Kentucky Nursing Home Abuse Attorney

What Constitutes Nursing Home Abuse?

According to the Administration on Aging, nursing home abuse is defined as intentionally causing physical harm or mental anguish to a resident of a long-term care facility. This is a particularly broad statement, as nursing home neglect or abuse can take on a variety of different forms. More specifically, nursing home abuse may include physical, mental, financial, and even sexual abuse. It may also include deprivation, confinement, and general neglect. 

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse occurs when pain or injury is inflicted upon a nursing home resident. Examples may include hitting, shoving, squeezing, and kicking, to name a few. However, physical abuse is not limited to actual physical assault or battery and doesn’t always require physical contact. Things like force-feeding and overmedicating can also be considered physical abuse.

Mental Abuse

There are many different types of mental abuse. In a nursing home, mental abuse can take the form of verbal, emotional, or psychological abuse. This may include things like threats, seclusion, caustic remarks, or insults. Emotional manipulation, which occurs when a nursing home staff member wrongfully influences a resident for their own personal gain, is also a form of mental abuse. Nursing home residents, for example, may be coerced into overlooking abuse due to the fear of not being fed, washed, groomed, or otherwise properly cared for.

Financial Abuse

Financial exploitation is a very prominent form of nursing home abuse. This occurs when someone, typically a staff member, steals from a resident or employs manipulation techniques to obtain their money. Financial abuse may include stealing cash, credit cards, or other valuables directly from a resident, stealing from a resident’s financial records, changing a resident’s will, or preventing a resident from accessing their own funds. 

Sexual Abuse

When a resident is subjected to any sort of unwanted sexual contact, from groping or improper touching to sexual assault, this is sexual abuse. Unfortunately, sexual abuse in nursing homes often occurs to those who are disabled mentally or physically and are generally unable to provide consent. Indicators of that your loved one may have been sexually abused include signs of bruising, scraping, or sores around the genital area. It can also potentially lead to a variety of sexually transmitted diseases being contracted by the resident.

Neglect

Nursing home neglect occurs when a caregiver fails to provide the level of care that is required of someone in their position. Failure to assist with personal hygiene, provide necessary medical treatment, address health and safety hazards, acknowledge unsanitary conditions, and provide adequate food, clothing, or shelter are some of the most common forms of nursing home neglect.

Willful Deprivation

Willful deprivation occurs when nursing home staff denies an elderly person medication, medical care, shelter, services, food, therapeutic devices, or other physical assistance due to age, health, or disability, thereby exposing that person to the risk of physical, mental, or emotional harm.

Unreasonable Confinement

If a staff member unnecessarily isolates a resident or employs the use of restraints, whether it be physical or chemical, it is considered unreasonable confinement. Physical restraints may include shackling or strapping a resident to their bed, while chemical restraints include the use of sedatives or other drugs to restrict a resident’s movement.