Nursing homes exist to take care of elderly Glendale residents who can no longer live on their own or can no longer live with their families because they need more constant care. These long-term care facilities are here to help your older loved one with their everyday life and ensure they have around-the-clock care if they need it. However, sometimes the staff isn’t as diligent or kind as you would expect them to be. That’s when you could use the help of our Glendale, AZ nursing home abuse lawyer.
Our attorneys have experience representing the victims of nursing home abuse. Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm is prepared to take the necessary steps to build the strongest case possible for your loved one so that they can get justice for what’s happened to them. We’ll look at the evidence, investigate what happened, use expert testimony to determine how the situation should have been handled or how they should have been treated, and determine how much you’re owed.
Signs My Loved One Is Being Abused or Neglected
If you don’t know what to look for, you could miss the signs that your loved one is experiencing abuse or neglect in their long-term care facility. This can delay you getting them the help that they need, which puts them in even more danger the longer they experience the mistreatment. Not only can abuse and neglect affect the physical health of an elderly resident, but also can harm their mental and emotional health and cause any conditions to decline.
That’s why it’s crucial to know what to be looking for when you speak with and visit your older loved one in their nursing facility—being able to identify the signs of abuse and neglect can help you intervene and take action faster. Here are some of the telltale signs that your elderly family member is experiencing abuse in their nursing home:
- Unexplained bruises and broken bones
- Bed sores
- Dehydrated and malnourished
- Poor personal hygiene
- Soiled sheets and linens
- Messy room
- Change in behavior
- Trouble communicating
- Becoming withdrawn
- Not being allowed alone when visiting or on the phone
- Medication errors
- Missing valuables
- Changes in accounts and estates
- Unexplained STDs and genital injuries
These signs listed above are some of the most common and easy to spot signs of abuse that your loved one could be showing. When you pay attention to their actions and changes in behavior, you’ll be able to tell that they aren’t getting the care and treatment they deserve in their long-term care facility. As soon as you recognize one of these signs, it’s important that you take action to get them to safety and get justice.
Our Glendale, AZ nursing home abuse attorney will be there to guide you every step of the way so that you can build a strong case and get your loved one the justice and compensation they deserve for the abuse and neglect they endured.
Steps to Take If My Elderly Family Member Is Being Abused
Once you’re able to identify the harmful behavior that your loved one is enduring, you’ll need to know the next steps for you to take so that you can move them to safety and potentially take legal action to hold the negligent staff member or other party responsible for what they’ve done. Here are the steps you should take if you suspect your loved one is being abused or neglected in their nursing home:
- Speak to Your Loved One. Even though you’ve noticed some signs, it’s still important to speak with your loved one about what they’ve experienced. This can give you insight into the abuse they’ve been enduring at their facility. However, they could be feeling withdrawn and have trouble communicating with you, in which case, you’ll need to make the decision about what you’ve witnessed.
- Report the Mistreatment to the Facility. Even though this could feel counterintuitive to some people, you’ll want to report the suspected abuse to the management at your loved one’s facility. This gives them the chance to investigate and handle the staff member, resident, or other party themselves. However, if they fail to take action or don’t take it as seriously as you think they should, you’ll need to move on to the next step.
- Contact Law Enforcement. Your next step will be reporting the suspected abuse to Arizona Adult Protective Services through filing a report. This ensures you have a complaint filed and that it will be investigated by the proper authorities.
- Hire a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer. Finally, you’ll need to hire a nursing home abuse attorney so that you have legal representation throughout your claim. They’ll compile all your evidence to build a strong claim and support you every step of the way.
When your loved one is in immediate danger, you’ll want to call 911. You can go through these steps later, but your initial action is to get your loved one to safety. Whether you needed to take emergency action or took the longer steps, you could use the help of our Glendale, AZ nursing home abuse lawyer. We’re here to get your loved one justice.
Glendale, AZ Nursing Home Reviews
If you suspect your loved one is being abused in their nursing home, another way you can investigate on your own is by doing research on the facility. Ideally, you research the quality of care before choosing a nursing home, but you can’t always cover all your bases when you’re making that decision.
To help you see which facilities could be harming their residents, and therefore could be abusing or neglecting your loved one, you can use Medicare’s comparison tool. This shows the nursing homes in the area and their overall ratings for care and if they have a history of reported abuse. Here are the ratings for the four long-term care facilities in Glendale, AZ and the surrounding five-mile radius:
- 2 below average
- 1 above average
- 1 much above average
Of these four, one has been cited for abuse. This doesn’t mean that the other facilities have never abused their residents, this just means that only one has been cited for these actions. It’s important to be as careful as possible when choosing a facility for your loved one because you never know if they will really provide the care at the level you expect them to provide.
Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm Can Help Your Loved One
You shouldn’t have to choose between keeping your loved one safe and taking action against the facility who abused or neglected them. That’s where our Glendale, AZ nursing home abuse attorney is here to help. At Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm, we understand how difficult this time is for you. That’s why we’re here to handle the legal side of things.
Reach out to our office today to schedule a free consultation so that we can get started on your claim right away.
