Fort Lauderdale Nursing Home Neglect & Abuse Attorney
Nobody should ever have to worry about their elderly loved one being harmed in a nursing home. However, if the careless, negligent, or intentional actions of nursing home staff cause your loved one to be injured or become ill, Colson Hicks Eidson is ready to step in. We handle cases throughout the State of Florida (and nationwide) and know what it takes to hold these parties accountable for their actions. When you need a nursing home neglect & abuse attorney, we will investigate what happened to your loved one and secure the compensation they are entitled to.
How does nursing home abuse and neglect occur?
The abuse and neglect of elderly residents in nursing homes are some of the greatest tragedies that can occur. This is understudied in our country but is thought to be a wide-spread problem. Nursing home staff and owners must be held accountable when any of the following occurs:
- Physical Abuse: includes any actions that cause pain for a resident, including slapping, punching, shoving, pushing, burning, or other actions.
- Sexual Abuse: this includes any sexual contact between a nursing home resident with staff or volunteers of a nursing home.
- Emotional or Psychological Abuse: This can be on both verbal or non-verbal forms and is meant to inflict fear, distress, anxiety, or mental anguish in a resident. This can take the form of property destruction, name-calling, intimidation, and isolation.
- Neglect: all nursing home residents have the right to food, water, hygiene, clothing, and medical care. If the nursing home staff fails to provide for these basic needs, they are neglecting the resident.
- Failure to Call Emergency Services: there are times when nursing home staff fails to call 911 during an emergency, sometimes out of fear of making the nursing home look bad. By putting off emergency care, they could cause a resident’s condition to worsen.
- Financial abuse: nursing homes and their staff usually have access to a resident’s personal information. This can lead to financial abuse and identity theft.
Nursing homeowners and operators must follow all state and federal guidelines regarding the safe operation of their facilities and they should always thoroughly screen applicants when hiring.
Family and friends of nursing home residents should always look for signs and symptoms of abuse. This can include:
- Unexplained bruises, broken bones, or other injuries
- Unexplained illness or infection
- Personality changes
- Dirty clothing or room conditions
- Bedsores
- Sudden weight loss
- Signs of dehydration
The time to act is now
We realize that all of this seems unthinkable. Unfortunately, these incidents happen. If your loved one has been abused or neglected in a nursing home, the team at Colson Hicks Eidson is ready to get to work on your behalf. We will bring four decades of experience to your case and perform a thorough investigation of what happened. Our goal is to secure the compensation you are entitled to and hopefully put a stop to the actions that harmed your loved one so nobody else has to go through this. If you need a Fort Lauderdale nursing home neglect & abuse attorney, you can contact us for a free consultation by clicking here or by calling us at 305-476-7400.