When people grow older, they sometimes need extra assistance that their loved ones simply cannot provide them with. This may require them to stay in a nursing home. The job of those who work in nursing homes is to ensure that the patients there are living a safe and healthy life. If they fail to do so and are negligent in providing patients with the proper standard of care, these individuals can suffer significantly as a result.
It can be a person’s worst nightmare to realize that their loved one is experiencing nursing home abuse. When placing them in a home, they trust the staff there to take great care of them at all times. Actions that are considered negligence at a nursing home can include a variety of things, so it is important to stay alert and pay attention to your loved ones. If you believe someone you know is being neglected or abused in a nursing home, it is important to retain the services of an experienced Pennsylvania personal injury attorney.
How Can I Detect Negligence?
There are many different signs of abuse that take place in a nursing home. This can include malnourishment, cuts and bruises, broken bones, infections, and more. However, it is important to know that nursing home abuse does not always show physical signs. For example, a person can experience stolen possessions, verbal abuse or harassment, sexual abuse, and more.
How Can I Report Nursing Home Abuse?
In order to report suspected abuse in nursing homes, the Older Adults Protective Services Act was amended in 1997. This requires administrators and employees of a nursing home to report any abuse that they suspect taking place in the home. This can be done to the local Area Agency on Aging and licensed agencies. If sexual abuse, serious physical injuries, or a suspicious death takes place, reporting can be done with the Department of Aging and local law enforcement. Loved ones of an abused nursing home patient should retain the services of an experienced attorney who can help them gather evidence of the abuse to file a negligence claim against the home.
Contact our Firm
If you or a loved one has been in a personal injury accident in Pennsylvania, it’s important that you contact an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney to help you with your case and to make sure that you are not taken advantage of. Contact Spear Greenfield to get the right attorney in your corner.
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