There are certain signs and warnings to look out for if your loved one is in a nursing home.
Number one is bed sores. We are increasingly hearing about bed sores. Bed sores, which are also called decubitus ulcers, or pressure ulcers, or pressure sores, are caused when your body is exposed to increased pressure for an extended period of time. In the nursing home setting, the sores often develop when a resident is laying in one position for hours upon hours at a time, or siting in a wheelchair or a chair without being turned and positioned, as a lot of nursing home residents have difficulty in repositioning themselves. The areas on the body where we most often see bed sores are where the boney prominences are located. Now what are those? Bony prominences include the shoulder blades, the tailbone, the sacrum or the lower back area, the heels, or even the back of the head.
Next, if you hear about repeated falls involving your loved one at a nursing home, that is often a telling sign of neglect. It could be that there is just not enough supervision, it could be that there’s not enough staff members, or it could be that there is not a proper plan in place for your loved one to prevent them from falling. These falls in the elderly can lead to devastating injuries including hip fractures, which could require major surgery, leg fractures which could require surgery, head injuries, brain injuries, and even sudden death.
If you are noticing that your loved one is experiencing weight loss, this could be a telling sign of neglect. Proper nutrition is key.
You walk into the nursing home and you smell a foul odor, you have to wonder what’s going on?
Are the residents being cleaned, are they being bathed? If the residents wear adult diapers, are they being changed every two hours like they’re supposed to be? If they’re not, that’s a very telling sign of the care that’s being given to the residents. Not only does it violate the resident’s dignity not to clean them, and bathe them, and change them, but it can lead to infections. It can lead to bed sores, and a host of other deadly medical conditions that need to be avoided.
Another sign that residents may be neglected is just general inattentive or indifferent staff. If you visit the nursing home and you just get the sense that the caretakers, the nurses and the aides have no time for the residents, have no time to talk to you, that’s not a good thing. If they have no time to talk to you, the visitor, then they probably have no time to take care of the residents.
About Leitner Varughese PLLC
Leitner Varughese PLLC is a cutting-edge litigation and trial law firm uniquely experienced in handling high-profile, complex lawsuits involving serious injuries and wrongful death. The Firm has vast experience in handling cases involving serious injuries caused by:
• Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect • Medical Malpractice • Construction Accidents • Motor Vehicle Accidents • Trip / Slip & Fall Accidents • Labor Law Violations • Negligent Premises Security • Products Liability • Defective Drugs
Leitner Varughese attorneys are routinely heralded as preeminent trial lawyers by nationally acclaimed organizations including the National Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Super Lawyers, American Academy of Trial Attorneys Premier 100, Rue Ratings Best Attorneys in America, America’s Top 100 Attorneys, and National Academy of Jurisprudence Premier 100 Trial Attorneys.
The attorneys at Leitner Varughese are routinely called upon to handle high-profile and newsworthy cases, many of which have been featured in news and media outlets, including the New York Law Journal, the New York Post, the New York Daily News, Channel 7 Eyewitness News, CBS News, Best of Long Island Press, Newsday, News 12, the LI Herald, and FIOS 1, amongst others.
In just the past few years, Leitner Varughese attorneys have facilitated in the recovery of over $100 million on behalf of clients that were injured because of car and truck accidents, construction accidents (involving New York State Labor Law violations), slip/trip and falls, and defective pharmaceuticals, including the recovery of over $50 million alone in verdicts and settlements on behalf of the victims of nursing home neglect and abuse.
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