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Nursing home residents deserve to live in a peaceful, safe setting, but many residents end up being the target of abuse or neglect. This could put them at risk of physical injuries or intense psychological damage.
If your loved one faced abuse in a nursing home setting, they can benefit from the guidance of a skilled personal injury attorney who could pursue legal action against both the abuser and those who allowed the abuse to happen. A Chesterton nursing home abuse lawyer is available to help identify the responsible party and pursue legal action against them.
It is helpful to understand all the types of abuse that can occur in an elder care facility. Abuse and neglect can happen in many different ways, and few cases will be exactly the same. A Chesterton attorney could pursue nursing home abuse lawsuits based on any of the following circumstances:
Physical abuse involves any kind of unwarranted physical injury to a nursing home resident. Some of the most common examples of this type of abuse involve punching, biting, slapping, or kicking a resident. However, it can also include the unnecessary or overzealous use of restraints. This includes can include chemical restraints – referring to medications used to sedate or otherwise control a person.
Any nonconsensual sexual conduct or exposure is a form of abuse. Sexual abuse is unfortunately common in nursing homes, as many residents are unable to report harassment or consent to sexual activity.
Some acts of abuse do not involve physical contact at all. Emotional abuse involves causing emotional trauma, sadness, fear, or isolation in a resident. This can occur when a staff member shouts at a resident, insults them, prevents family visits and socialization, or ignores them entirely.
Neglect occurs when a nursing home resident does not receive the basic care or attention that they need, such as hygiene, medication, or food. Neglect is often intentional but it can also result from acts of negligence where the staff is overworked or undermanned, and cannot attend to every patient.
There could be multiple parties that share liability when an act of abuse or neglect occurs in a nursing home. It is always a possibility to seek compensation directly from the abuser. However, other individuals might also share liability in these cases. The person who commits the act of abuse is the most likely target of a civil suit. This could be an employee of the facility, a visitor, or even another patient.
It could also be possible to pursue a case against the owner and operator of the nursing home facility. Allowing abuse to occur on the premises could make them a target in a personal injury case. This is especially true if the facility was negligent by understaffing the facility or failing to adequately train its employees.
Identifying the responsible parties in these cases is an important step that requires an intimate knowledge of the law. A Chesterton nursing home neglect attorney could review the facts and identify all of the potential defendants.
If your loved one experienced nursing home abuse, they deserve to be compensated for their injuries. Holding the abuser accountable could be an option with the right legal counsel assisting you. Allow yourself to focus on your family and let a Chesterton nursing home abuse lawyer guide your loved one’s case. Call us as soon as possible for a free consultation.