Nursing home abuse and neglect has increasingly become a pressing issue that concerns our elderly today.  This has become a scary epidemic that happens not just in other countries but in the United States. We often entrust our elderly to the hands of nursing home personnel as they need constant attention and care.

First, let us see more about what role these nursing homes play for our elderly. The role of a nursing home is to provide for physical, rehabilitative and occupational therapies. Statistics shows that there are more than 16,000 nursing homes in the year 2002. All of these homes are obliged to operate under governmental and legal requirements.

The daily cost of a nursing home varies from one to another. Depending on the service or assistance provided by the home, the usual daily cost is between $350 and up. When we put our elderly in nursing homes, we expect that homes personnel would take care of them. We expect our elders to get proper attention and care. However, our expectations do not come true at all times. Instead of being a place of refuge, different stories of abuse and negligence happen behind the walls of our nursing homes.

 There have been a lot of studies done privately and by the government abuse and negligence that people can experience in a nursing home. Various eye witnesses’ stories and surveys have shown that nursing home abuse is pervasive. These are real stories of real people. Sometimes, these cases of abuse are unreported.

The next thing we need to know is the kind of abuse or negligence that takes place in these institutions. Below are the most common type of abuse:

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse is a nonconsensual sexual contact of any type with a nursing home resident. Sexual abuse can fall under these types: sexual assault, unwanted touching, rape, sodomy, forced nudity or even nude photography.

Physical Abuse

This leadsto body injury, body pain or even impairment. Common types of physical abuse include striking the resident with or without an object, beating, hitting, shaking, shoving, pushing, slapping, pinching, kicking, and burning. Physical abuse also entails needles use of drugs and physical restraints, coerced feeding and physical punishment.

Neglect

Neglect happens when personnel in homes refuse to fulfill his or her obligation to the residents. Negligence entails failure to give residents the needed care like daily food, water, clothing, medicine, personal hygiene, safety and comfort.

Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse is defined as the infliction of anguish or pain through verbal or nonverbal actions. Emotional abuse can be verbal attacks, threats, derogatory remarks, intimidation, insults, and/or harassment. Moreover, emotional abuse also entails treatment of the resident like that of a child or giving him or her “silent treatment” or even excluding him or her from his/her relatives and regular activities in the home.

Financial Exploitation

Financial exploitation is defined as the illegal or wrong use of funds, property or belongings of a resident by the home personnel. It come in the form of cashing a resident's checks without authorization, forging a signature, pilfering money or any other belonging, misleading a resident to sign any document (contracts/will), and the wrong use of guardianship, or power of attorney.

Abandonment

This is defined as the abandonment of a nursing home resident by nursing home personnel who have assumed responsibility for providing care for the resident in question.

These are usually the types of abuse that happen in nursing homes. If your loved one in nursing homes show signs of abuse like the he or she is agitated or upset, shows strange behavior such as being non-communicative or being withdrawn, frightened and wants isolation from you and other people, it will be best to get him or her out of that home to avoid further abuse.

Now, let us take a look at some of the cases of nursing home abuse in the United States as more and more cases of abuse are reported annually. For example in the State of Illinois, police authorities are now investigating a possible case of nursing home abuse that transpired at GoldenMomentsSeniorCareCenter in Jacksonville. In the said alleged abuse, a nurse’s aide was reported to have threatened a resident to cut his throat, slapped a woman, insulted other residents with disabilities and sick adults, took away their food and starve them. Further, there are also reports that these awful incidents of abuse transpired for several month before they were reported to the administrator.

Going to California this time, Villa Valencia is also faced with another nursing home abuse lawsuit when Theresa Sperry, a 91-year old woman died allegedly in the said nursing home due to Alzheimer's and painful pressure ulcers on her feet. The relatives of Sperry cited instances of negligence and glaring profit-orientation of the said nursing home as main reasons why Theresa Sperry died in their hands.

Meanwhile in the State of Florida, two nurses have been incarcerated on multiple charges of neglect and abuse after their negligence to provide the needed medication for their residents. Investigators exposed that the nurses falsified records to make it appear as if the residents were receiving their needed medications. In this state, nursing home abuse cases are considered third-degree felony.

Lastly in Iowa, the largest private nursing home was fined for its failure to report abuse. In the said abuse, a worker forced-fed the residents to the point of choking, and this allegation was not reported promptly to the authorities.

These cases are examples of abuse which is becoming prevalent in many nursing homes in the United States. Nursing home abuse has become a pressing issue of concern nationwide as reports show about 94 percent for-profit nursing homes and 88 percent of non-profit home received citations for non-compliance last year. What is more controversial is statistics shows that these cases of abuse are never reported to the authorities.

There have been a lot of lawsuits to fight these people who take advantage of our elders. If your loved one suffered from such abuse, do not be hesitant to file a medical malpractice lawsuit or civil lawsuit against the nursing home. An experience medical malpractice lawyers might help you fight for your loved one say our Chicago civil rights attorneys at Dolan Law Offices.