Nursing homes are meant to be safe places for your elderly loved ones to receive the level of care that they need on a daily basis. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. No matter how much research you do to ensure that your loved one is getting the best care in their facility, you never know if the staff or other residents there will treat them properly.
If they aren’t getting the care they need or if they are getting abused or neglected, then you could use the help of a Corpus Christi, TX nursing home abuse lawyer. At Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm, you can trust us to represent your elderly loved one and stand up for their rights. They shouldn’t have to suffer through this at all, but especially not alone. We’ll fight to get them justice for what they’ve experienced in their facility.
Types of Abuse a Nursing Home Resident Could Experience
In order to identify what your loved one is going through in their nursing home, and whether or not it’s grounds for a legal claim, you should know the different types of abuse that commonly occur in facilities. That way, you can tell what is going on and determine if you need to take legal action to stand up for their rights.
Here are the types of abuse that could be afflicting your elderly family member in their care facility:
- Physical Abuse. When your loved one’s body is being harmed, this is considered physical abuse. If they’re being restrained, hit, burned, or being physically punished, then that would all be considered physical abuse. Suffering from bruises, broken bones, and other detriments to their health can be a result of physical abuse being enacted by a staff member or fellow resident.
- Emotional Abuse. This type of abuse doesn’t cause physical injuries, but that doesn’t mean that a resident isn’t harmed. Emotional and mental abuse can be just as damaging to a patient’s health. Being yelled at, verbally assaulted, isolated, threatened, or humiliated could all be examples of emotional and mental abuse. This can lead to your loved one becoming withdrawn and have mood swings. Their physical health could also decline from the psychological torment.
- Neglect. This form of abuse is the only one that could either be intentional or unintentional, but in both scenarios, it’s still incredibly damaging to your loved one’s health. When a patient is neglected in a nursing home, they could have missed medications, become malnourished, and develop bedsores from staying in one place. Their personal hygiene and room cleanliness could also suffer from neglect.
- Sexual Abuse. This type of abuse is less common, but still occurs in long-term care facilities. When residents are sexually assaulted or raped in their nursing home, they could take legal action against the facility. Any unwanted sexual contact is considered sexual abuse. When a patient is incapacitated, you’ll need to be extra vigilant of the signs of sexual abuse.
- Financial Abuse. Sometimes residents of nursing homes are financially exploited. Valuable items could start to go missing from a resident’s room, or a staff member could force the patient to add them to their accounts or being in control of their assets.
If you recognize any of these forms of abuse happening to your elderly loved one, then you should keep watching and talk to your family member. They might be open and tell you that they are being abused, but sometimes the abuse will cause them to detach and stay to themselves. When either happens, you’ll need the help of our Corpus Christi, TX nursing home abuse attorney to help you file a claim against your loved one’s abuser and anyone else responsible.
Rights of Long-Term Care Facility Residents in Texas
Knowing the rights of residents in Corpus Christi nursing homes is important because it allows your loved one to maintain their independence and dignity while still getting the care that they need. In Texas, there is a Resident’s Bill of Rights that ensures residents are treated correctly in their facilities.
Here are some of the most important rights that you should know so that your loved one maintains all their rights in their facility:
- The right to be treated with dignity and respect.
- The right to practice their own religion.
- The right to participate in their treatment and be involved in their medical plan.
- The right to privacy with medical information.
- The right to privacy with visitors and phone calls.
- The right to choose their own physician.
- The right to choose to participate in activities inside and outside of the facility.
- The right to be free from discrimination.
- The right to make their own financial decisions.
- The right to make complaints about their care.
There are many more rights that your loved one has even when they’re in a long-term care facility. The ones listed above are just some of the most important ones that you should know when your family member is a resident of a nursing home. They don’t lose their rights just because they need around-the-clock care.
If their rights have been violated in a Corpus Christi nursing home, you’ll need a lawyer to stick up for your loved one. That’s where we come in. Our Corpus Christi, TX nursing home abuse attorney is here to defend their rights and ensure that they get justice for what they’ve suffered through.
Contact Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm for Legal Help
When you suspect that your loved one is experiencing abuse in their long-term care home, you should speak with them and listen if they decide to tell you what’s happening. If they’re not willing to talk about it, that also could be a sign that they’re being abused and that you need to take action to get the mistreatment to stop.
Once you speak with your loved one, you should speak with their facility next. The higher-ups might not know about a staff or resident’s behavior, so you need to make them aware of the problem so they can make the necessary changes. If they don’t do anything to help, then you’ll need a Corpus Christi, TX nursing home abuse lawyer on your side.
At Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm, we’re dedicated to fighting for the victims of nursing home abuse and getting them the justice that they deserve. Our expert attorneys will represent your loved one and take care of the legal side of things while you focus on healing and moving your family member to safety. Reach out to our firm today so we can schedule a free consultation.
