Caring Louisville Nursing Home Neglect Attorney Ready To Serve You
According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS), 33 percent of nursing home residents suffer injuries while under supervised care. Over half of these injuries are “clearly or likely preventable,” and an even greater portion result directly from improper or inadequate medical care. These are startling figures and yet they shed light on just how critical it is for elderly victims and their families to stand up for their rights and fight back against negligence. Ignoring a red flag or assuming that your loved one’s treatment is “normal” will only allow the situation to worsen, resulting in additional pain, suffering, medical expenses, and other losses. Calling an experienced Louisville nursing home negligence lawyer to discuss the situation may be your best decision.
At Gladstein Law Firm, PLLC, we provide thorough and effective representation for victims of nursing home negligence. If you or an elderly family member is suffering, due to inadequate or improper treatment in a nursing facility, you are entitled to a financial recovery for your losses. Our Louisville nursing home negligence attorney is here to help make sure that you receive the care, compassion, and compensation that you deserve. To schedule a free, private appointment with a nursing home negligence attorney, contact us today by calling (800) 991-0474 or filling out our short contact form.
Contact Gladstein Law Firm today online or by calling 502-791-9000.
Warning Signs for Nursing Home Negligence
No one ever expects to be a victim. As a result, many patients and their families may struggle to identify whether injuries are simply part of growing older or if they are victims of negligent and/or abusive care. In determining whether you or your loved one may be a victim, there are a few warning signs that you can keep in mind. Even if you are not sure whether you and your family are being affected by nursing home neglect, attorney Seth Gladstein can fully investigate your situation and assess whether you may have a claim for financial compensation.
Symptoms and Injuries Caused by Negligent in a Nursing Home
Of course, the most obvious signs of negligence appear when you or your loved one suffers from medical complications or injuries. In the context of nursing homes, the following are all common signs of neglect:
- Dehydration
- Depression
- Difficulty healing or recovering from injuries and illnesses
- Emotional deterioration
- Infections
- Injuries consistent with physical or sexual abuse
- Injuries from restraints
- Injuries from falls, such as broken bones and severe contusions
- Malnutrition
- Mood swings
- Overmedication
- Pressure ulcers (bedsores)
- Significant weight loss
- Sudden financial loss
- Sudden changes in personality
- Tension and anxiety
- Trouble breathing
- Wandering and elopement
- Weight loss
This does not mean that all individuals who suffer from these conditions have been neglected. However, without a medical explanation for an unexpected change in an elderly individual’s condition or behavior, it may be time to speak with a lawyer about your situation. With our free consultation with a nursing home neglect lawyer in Louisville, you have nothing to lose – and everything to gain – if it turns out that something is wrong.
Contact Gladstein Law Firm today online or by calling 502-791-9000.
Why Nursing Home Neglect Happens
Neglect is a national issue – but why does it happen over and over again? While there are dozens of ways that nursing home living can lead to neglect, there are a few central problems that we see again and again:
- Failure to follow care plans. Federal law also requires nursing facilities to develop and continuously implement care plans for their patients. These government-mandated plans are intended to establish mutual expectations based on patients’ needs and hold nursing homes accountable for ensuring that those needs are met. If your loved one’s care plan is not being followed, or if your loved one does not have a care plan, you may be receiving inadequate or inappropriate care.
- Inadequate training and poor hiring practices. It is a sad truth that nursing home staff members are often not paid a high wage – and that they often are not properly vetted or trained by the facility that hires them. The result of these facts is that your loved one may be receiving care from someone who, for example, may not know how to properly monitor, lift, medicate, or feed residents. In the worst cases, your loved one may be cared for by someone with a criminal past, someone who is addicted to drugs, or someone who is looking for an opportunity to financially abuse a senior.
- A dangerous elder home environment. All too often, nursing homes are businesses whose first priority is making money, not caring for the elderly. This means that they will cut corners whenever and wherever they can, even at the cost of their residents’ health and safety. Nursing homes that are dirty and unmaintained, nursing homes that lack proper safety features (such as railings), and nursing homes that do not provide nutritious food are all places that are hotbeds of neglect.
Nursing Home Fall in Louisville
When we think about nursing home neglect, we often think about bedsores and malnutrition, not about slip and fall injuries. However, it is absolutely vital to understand that slips and falls are often completely preventable. In fact, if your senior loved one has been seriously injured due to a nursing home fall, it is possible that his or her home was negligent – and that your family deserves compensation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1,800 residents die every year from fall-related injuries. Residents who experience non-fatal injuries from their falls are often left with permanent disabilities and a significantly reduced quality of life.
How Serious Are Fall-Related Injuries?
While younger individuals often fall without suffering a serious injury, the same can’t be said for the elderly. Those in their later years often have less muscle mass, weaker bones, and poorer general health. Even a minor fall in the bath or from a bed can result in:
- Severe contusions.
- Fractured bones, especially broken hips.
- Head injuries and traumatic brain injuries.
In turn, broken bones and head trauma can lead to even more complications for seniors, such as infections, bedsores, and permanent disability. In too many cases, a serious fall and its complications can lead to death. Even if a nursing home patient survives, he or she might suffer lasting injuries and a greatly reduced quality of life.
How Do Nursing Home Falls Happen?
Some falls simply happen by accident – and the injured resident is treated quickly, thoughtfully, and thoroughly by staff members. But all too often nursing home falls are the result of negligence. Why did your senior loved one fall and who is responsible for damages? Here are a few common reasons for nursing home fall injuries:
- Understaffing. Understaffed elder homes mean unsupervised seniors. These seniors may be forced to engage in activities that are not safe (going to the restroom, bathing, or leaving their beds) without assistance.
- Poor staff training. Poorly trained nurses and nurse assistants can be just as dangerous as no staff at all. They can drop patients, ignore patients, or not give patients the proper help that they need. They may also have an improper response to a fall.
- A dangerous nursing home environment. Your senior loved one may have fallen because of a lack of safety features, such as bed railings, bathroom railings, or floor pads. Or your senior could have tripped on the carpet, an unsafe stairwell, or other hazards. It is the nursing home’s responsibility to keep their environment safe for both residents and visitors.
- Nursing home abuse. In some cases, a resident may suffer a fall because they are the victims of abuse; for example, they were pushed by a staff member or purposefully left alone in the bathtub without assistance.
It is imperative to understand how and why your loved one’s fall took place – and whether the injury was treated correctly after the fall occurred. A Louisville nursing home negligence attorney can help you understand your case and explain whether or not you may be able to seek damages.
Inadequate Nursing Home Staffing
One of the major reasons behind both nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect is simple: Nursing homes are often woefully understaffed. Sadly, this lack of properly trained, properly vetted, and experienced staff members result in far too many resident injuries and fatalities each year, all of which should have been prevented. If your elder loved one has suffered negligence or abuse in a nursing home, it is vital that you know what caused the injury and exactly who was responsible. Nursing home inadequate staffing lawyer Seth Gladstein can help you understand your case and secure your family the justice and compensation that you deserve.
Why Are Nursing Homes Understaffed?
Did you know that an assisted care facility with 200 beds currently has the same staffing requirements as a facility with only 50 beds? Unfortunately, every day, thousands of the elderly are having their basic needs neglected without anyone holding the negligent facilities accountable. There are two main reasons why nursing homes and assisted living facilities are understaffed:
- Nursing homes are trying to make more money. The less money that nursing homes spend on paying staff members, training staff members, and vetting staff members, the more money goes to the owner and administrator pockets each year. For this reason, many of these businesses cut back to the bare essentials, leaving a handful of under-trained and over-worked certified nursing assistants (CNAs) to care for dozens of residents at a time. It is no surprise that most nursing home residents receive a full hour less of direct nursing care per day than the recommended minimum. It is also no surprise that mistakes and injuries occur regularly.
- Nursing home staff often face poor work conditions. Because nursing home businesses are often desperately trying to increase their profits, working conditions at nursing homes can be bleak. Nurses, CNAs, and other staff members may face extremely low wages and long work hours and have poor benefits, hazardous work environments, and a lack of supervision. Because of these conditions, there is a dire shortage of nursing home staff members, terrible retention rates, and high turnover rates. It is no surprise that the result is the under-trained, over-stressed, and inexperienced staff.
Common Examples of Nursing Home Negligence
Broadly speaking, nursing home negligence occurs any time a nursing home or one of its employees fails to meet the accepted standard of care, resulting in harm to a resident. Negligence can take many forms, but nursing home injuries tend to result from a number of common and recurring examples of improper care. These include:
- Clogged breathing tubes
- Delayed response to ventilator alarms and other monitoring failures
- Failure to diagnose medical conditions requiring treatment
- Failure to provide timely meals and support
- Financial exploitation
- Inadequate security
- Inadequately trained staff
- Isolation and abandonment
- Medication errors
- Physical abuse
- Psychological abuse
- Repeated falls and fall-related injuries
- Sexual abuse
- Unsafe and unreasonable restraints
- Unexplained weight loss
It is important to note that certain individuals – such as those suffering from dementia or those who rely on others to administer their medications – may be particularly susceptible to negligence. If you have questions about additional steps that you can take to avoid dangerous situations in nursing homes, our Louisville nursing home negligence lawyer can help.
Contact Gladstein Law Firm today online or by calling 502-791-9000.
What to Do if You Suspect Nursing Home Negligence
If you suspect that you or your elderly family member may be a victim of neglect, or you suspect that your elderly family member has been neglected in the past, you should seek help right away. Make sure that you have copies of your records and seek prompt treatment for any injuries or illnesses requiring medical care. You should avoid discussing your concerns with anyone at the nursing home – we will do that for you when the time is right. First, you should sit down with our nursing home negligence lawyer to discuss your situation and develop a plan for seeking just compensation for your injuries and losses.
Speak with Louisville Nursing Home Negligence Attorney Seth Gladstein Today
At Gladstein Law Firm, PLLC, we are passionate about helping victims of nursing home negligence stand up for themselves and get back on the road to living a safe, comfortable, and healthy life. We have helped numerous individuals throughout Kentucky – many of whom have been in situations that are likely very similar to yours. The most important thing that you can do is to talk to an experienced personal injury attorney about your concerns. Louisville nursing home negligence attorney Seth Gladstein will listen to you, help you understand your options, and then fight on your behalf. To get started, contact our Louisville, KY law offices today. Call (800) 991-0474 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation with a Louisville nursing home negligence lawyer.
