fbpx
"Our Mission is to protect, advocate, and care
for each client when they need it the most."
GET YOUR FREE CONSULTATION

What to Do If You Witness Nursing Home Abuse

Published on Jul 28, 2021 at 5:42 am in Nursing Home Abuse.
What to Do If You Witness Nursing Home Abuse

Placing your elderly loved one into a nursing home can be one of the most difficult decisions you could have to make in your adult life. No matter how much research and care you take in making sure the home is the right fit for your loved one, you could still make a mistake and place them in a facility where they get mistreated.

You can’t be there with them every minute of every day, which is what makes it more difficult. You can’t protect your loved ones at all times, and you can’t keep watch over them to ensure they’re being treated correctly at all times either. When you are there, you can be vigilant to make sure that if they are abused, you can witness it and make a report.

You might not know exactly what to do when you witness the abuse, though. Let’s look at your options if you witness your loved one being abused in their nursing home.

How to Report Nursing Home Abuse

In Kentucky, there are steps you need to take to report any nursing home abuse that you might witness in your loved one’s facility who is mistreating them. After you recognize the abuse is happening, there are things that you must do in order to follow the correct steps. It’s important to promptly and accurately report elder abuse in a facility because they are part of a vulnerable population and can suffer fatal injuries as the result of abuse.

The first thing to do if you witness nursing home abuse is to speak with your loved one. Unfortunately, they might not be receptive to your conversation because abuse can make them less social and unwilling to communicate.

Your next step will be to talk to the staff of the nursing home. Even though you might be inclined to immediately go to the police, it’s important to report the activity in your loved one’s nursing home first so that they are aware of the mistreatment. If they don’t handle the abuse on their own, that’s when you should move on to the next step.

If you’ve gotten to this step, or if your loved one is in immediate danger because of the abuse they’re experiencing, then you will have to report the abuse to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The hotline to report the abuse is (877) 597-2331 and is available 24 hours a day.

After you report the abuse to the correct party, you might need the help of a nursing home abuse lawyer from the Law Office of Todd W. Burris to help you defend the rights of your loved one. Even before you report the abuse you witnessed in your family member’s nursing home you will need to know the signs of abuse in a long-term care facility.

Signs of Abuse in a Long-Term Care Facility

In order to fully understand what’s happening to your elderly family member in their facility, you should know the signs of nursing home abuse so that you can accurately report anything you see. Here are some of the most common signs of physical, mental, financial, and sexual abuse that your loved one could be experiencing in their facility:

  • Malnutrition and dehydration
  • Dirty clothes
  • Poor hygiene
  • Unclean sheets and room
  • Bed sores
  • Unexplained bruises and broken bones
  • Drastic change in mood
  • Withdrawn
  • Seems scared
  • Unexplained STDs
  • Unable to visit alone
  • Confused
  • Missing items from their room
  • Missing money from their account

These are just some of the most basic signs of abuse when your loved one is staying in a long-term care facility. Looking out for these signs can help you keep them as safe as possible if they do start to experience mistreatment in their nursing home. By recognizing the abuse, you can quickly report it and remove them from that place and into the hands of a safer facility.

Having a nursing home abuse lawyer on your side can help you take legal action against the negligent facility. At the Law Office of Todd W. Burris, we’re prepared to fight to get you the justice your loved one deserves.

Our Lawyers Will Help You With Your Claim

When you don’t know who to turn to after you’ve witnessed your family member being abused in their nursing home, you can count on the Lexington nursing home abuse lawyer from the Law Office of Todd W. Burris to support you. We’ll fight to investigate exactly what happened, ensure the proper authorities are informed, and calculate how much they’re owed in damages for what they’ve experienced.

You shouldn’t have to go through this alone. We’ll handle the legal side of things so that you can focus on getting your loved one to safety. Reach out to our firm today so we can get started on your claim right away.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice. Viewing does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Prior case results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

© 2024 Law Office of Todd W. Burris, PLLC | All Rights Reserved. Legal InSites - Law Firm Digital Marketing