A nursing home can be a place where the staff cares for our aging loved ones and make their quality of life the best it can be in the face of physical and sometimes mental deterioration. Quality nursing homes assure that they are hygienic, physically active, mentally engaged, and well monitored.

A quality nursing home does not specifically mean an expensive facility. Nursing home abuse can come in many different forms and in all kinds of facilities from small private resident care homes to large luxury care facilities. There are seven main categories.

1)      Financial Abuse- It is important that your loved one’s financial records are closely monitored. If there are large credit card charges for unorthodox things and large withdrawals of cash that remain unexplained this could mean that one of the staff is exploiting the resident. It can go as far as changes in living circumstances and changes in will. You can monitor this by taking some easy steps:

• Online account alerts.
• Power of attorney that requires that you see changes in crucial financial documents.
• A single credit card with clearly itemized transactions.
• A receipt box in the room

2)      Healthcare Abuse – This can come in the form of over billing, over or under medicating, inadequate equipment or equipment that doesn’t exist in the resident’s room on the bill, and under-trained or insufficient staff. Ways to monitor this is:

• Keep thorough records and be blatant about your monthly request for records.
• Check pills to see if they are correct, cut in half, or not corresponding with what the physician prescribed.
• Periodically attend physical therapy sessions and exercise classes

3)      Neglect – Neglect can be obvious or subtle. The first signs of neglect are usually hygiene, followed by dirty or soiled linens, and unsanitary conditions. Neglect gets far worse when there is sudden weight changes up or down, signs of malnutrition, bed sores, and quick deterioration of ability to move. This can be monitored by:

• Frequent visits and asking the resident what their normal schedule is.
• Relationships with the staff.
• Attend scheduled functions at the home.
• Speak to other residents and their loved ones.
• Wandering and getting lost off of the grounds of the nursing home.

4)      Emotional Abuse – This is usually caught by showing up unannounced and watching attendants with other residents. If they use threatening, belittling, or controlling caregiver behavior it could mean that your loved one is probably enduring it also. If behavior from your loved one mimics that of dementia suddenly, such as rocking, sucking, or mumbling to oneself this is a clear sign of emotional abuse. You monitor this by:

• Enquiring about new employees, their backgrounds, and qualifications.
• Noticing odd changes in behavior such as silence, bad looks, or cringing around certain employees or employees in general.
• Asking questions further if the resident has an irrational fear of anything in the home such as missing meal times or staying up after a certain time.

5)      Sexual Abuse – The signs of this often manifest themselves physically and emotionally, such as bruises around breasts or genitals, unexplained venereal disease or genital infections, unexplained vaginal or anal bleeding, and torn, stained, or bloody underclothing. Many times these are some of the most embarrassing for your loved one to admit because of religious or moral sexual social programming. The way you can monitor this is:

• Check the bed and mattress.
• Walk with your loved one and monitor how they are moving.
• Ask questions if there are any problems.
• Inquire about severe mood changes, quietness, and or timid/shameful behavior when touched.

6)      Physical Abuse – Physical abuse can come in many different forms. Elder people are quite frail and the abuse does not have to be that blatant to seriously hurt the person. Many times the signs of physical abuse comes in the behavior of others, such as the patient is not able to be alone or they are oddly dressed when you arrive. The staff stalls you on the way to their room or they are unavailable. Other signs are that they will be sent to the hospital for a rash of falls or have broken glasses, watch, or cane. You monitor this by:

• Sudden unannounced visits
• Physical checks or quarterly outside physician visits
• Ask your loved one out of the blue whether you suspect it or not
• Monitor their behavior around staff

7)      Wrongful Death – The death of a loved one should not be taken for granted just because they are in their twilight years. “They had a good long life,” does not justify negligence on the part of facility staff or physicians. Not everyone in a nursing home dies of old age or natural causes. You can monitor this by:

• Asking too many questions, because the aren’t too many
• Getting a second opinion by independent autopsy
• Itemize and scrutinize possessions and records of the loved one
• Have legal council looked over all records from the facility.

This seems like a lot of work or a lot to think of, but in reality it can be a community effort, because communication and regular visits between family members is important. The number one thing you can do is to talk to your loved one and ask the hard questions even if you don’t suspect anything. Make sure you take your loved one out of the facility periodically for family occasions and nice car rides or walks. Separation from the source of abuse are the times when abuse is exposed even in the most severe of dementia patients, particularly when they fight or emotionally break down at the thought of going back.

Make a Nursing Home Checklist for regular visitors to fill out as an aid to everyone to make sure that you know the signs and look for them consistently to be able to form a pattern.

The worst part about nursing home abuse is that it happens to the residents that need the most help. Those who can’t voice their pain or identify their abusers. The last years of life should be a joyous celebration of life and a comfort that you are finally able to relax and explore artistic and personal exploits. It should not be a degrading cycle of abuse that hastens your path to the grave.

If you suspect nursing home abuse DO NOT alert the nursing home before finding experienced legal council to assure that the situation is dealt with properly so that the evidence of abuse cannot be hidden from authorities. At the first signs of abuse immediately call Phillips Webster to find out the next step and your legal recourse.

Learn More About:

• Medical Malpractice
• Building a Medical Malpractice Case
• Financial Entitlements in Medical Malpractice Cases