A nursing home should provide your relative with quality, usually long-term, care. You expect the caregivers to supervise your loved one 24/7, ensure that they eat, help them move around, and provide all the other services they require. Unfortunately, sometimes the people you entrust with the care of your loved one might fail to provide the right supervision. There may also be abuse in some cases, causing injury or trauma or making pre-existing conditions worse. You need to take the following legal measures before neglect has further detrimental effects if this happens.
Examine Them During Your Visits
Your senior loved one may feel lonely while at the nursing home. Therefore, it is important that you visit them often to see how they're doing and provide encouragement. Take time to talk to your elderly relative and try to find out how the caregivers treat them. Your senior loved one might be afraid to tell you of any problems they face lest they get targeted. Therefore, despite what they tell you, you need to examine them carefully to help you detect any signs of mistreatment or neglect. Some of the signs to look out for include bedsores and sudden weight loss. You might also suspect possible abuse if caregivers are unwilling to let you visit your family member whenever you want.
Take Note of Any Abnormalities
If you observe signs of poor health, take note of any abnormalities. Besides this, take photos and videos of everything that causes you concern. You may also consider talking to the caregivers who care for your elderly loved one. They might share useful information that may help you to lodge a claim against either the nursing home or negligent caregivers.
Consult a Professional Legal Advisor
If your elderly relative has undergone any form of negligence, mistreatment, or abuse in a nursing home, they should be compensated. However, pursuing this might be challenging, especially because the nursing home and negligent individuals may want to cover up their crimes to protect their reputations. For this reason, you need to consider working with a nursing home abuse law attorney. They'll conduct an investigation, gather evidence, and prepare a claim to help your elderly relative get justice.
Nursing home negligence and abuse can cause injuries and trauma that may affect your elderly relative for a long time. This is the reason you need to take the measures above to protect your elderly relative if you suspect that they are being mistreated or even neglected in a nursing home.
Contact a nursing home abuse lawyer for more information.
Share