Horn Lake Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Lawyer

There has been an increase in nursing home residents in recent years. The population is growing in age, and they need assistance during this vulnerable time, but nursing home facilities are neglecting residents or intentionally abusing them.

If you suspect a loved one in a nursing home is suffering abuse or neglect, the Horn Lake nursing home abuse & neglect lawyer from Gatti, Keltner, Bienvenu & Montesi, PLC, can sue the facility, doctors, and staff for their actions or inactions. 

Signs of Abuse in Nursing Homes

There are different forms of Horn Lake nursing home abuse, including physical, emotional, and sexual. There are many signs but the most common area:

• Malnutrition
• Bed sores
• Jaundice
• Infections
• Cuts, lacerations, or excessive bleeding 
• Severe weight loss 
• Missing or broken personal items
• Dehydration 
• Signs of improper restraint 
• Unsanitary living conditions
• Infestation in the room 

Financial abuse is harder to detect, but signs include staff taking bank account information, adding themselves to the resident’s bank or credit card accounts, and checks made to staff. 

Causes of Nursing Home Neglect in Horn Lake 

Aside from abuse, there is also neglect to worry about when staff does not care for the resident per care instructions. Caregivers must feed, change, bathe and perform other specific duties to care for the resident. Since residents depend on staff for their basic needs, it is neglect when they do not provide for these needs. 

Some core issues lead to neglect from facility negligence. Understating is a huge issue, especially when more and more residents are entering nursing homes than ever before. Employees become overburdened and overworked due to stress, exhaustion, and lack of resources. 

Facilities must adequately hire and train new staff to prevent neglect. There must be training on the proper medication administration, handling mobility issues, and more specific to the facility when there is a new caretaker. The facility endangers all residents when a nursing home hires caretakers with criminal backgrounds or a history of abuse. 

How Often Nursing Home Neglect Happens

Nursing homes are meant to be a place for rehabilitation and comfort for the elderly.  They go to live comfortably when they can no longer care for themselves. Nursing home residents tend to have reduced mobility, increasing their risks of orthopedic injuries, bed sores, and other medical conditions. Staff must take care of the residents’ needs as it can worsen their situation. 

While most nursing homes provide exceptional care, not all Horn Lake nursing homes do, and you must take action if anything is amiss. Many nursing home abuse incidents do not get reported, but of the ones that do, one-fourth of all nursing home residents in the United States suffer some form of physical abuse during their residence. However, physical abuse only accounts for the percent of abuse cases, while verbal abuse is 60 percent and neglect at 14 percent. 

How to Report Abuse And Neglect 

There are mandatory reporting laws in Horn Lake, so if you suspect there is abuse, you must report it in several ways. First, you should report the nursing home abuse to the facility administrator, who will check into the suspicion and make changes. The next step if nothing changes or the abuse continues is to contact the Ombudsman Program in Mississippi, which serves as an advocate for your loved ones’ care. 

Contact the Mississippi Department of Health and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to move things further. You can also report the incident to the State Attorney General. All these resources will seek justice for your loved one and other facility residents. 

While many resources are available, it can be challenging to determine the best recourse for your circumstances. Another option is to consult with a nursing home abuse & neglect attorney in Horn Lake. We will investigate the situation, apply all state laws to your claim, and secure justice from the nursing home facility. 

How Much Time You Have to File a Claim

Nursing home abuse and neglect in Horn Lake must be reported, but there is limited time to take action. The statute of limitations in Horn Lake for nursing home abuse cases is three years from when the resident’s injury should have been reasonably discovered or was discovered. Additionally, there are compensation caps to remember. 

Punitive damages have a cap depending on the person’s net worth. Non-economic damages for civil actions regarding nursing home abuse & neglect have a $1 million cap. These caps apply to wrongful death in a nursing home as well. 

Using a Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer in Horn Lake

The nursing home facility will make it challenging to prove there is neglect or abuse present, which is why you will need the help of a Horn Lake nursing home abuse & neglect lawyer. We will work to prove the essential elements of nursing home abuse cases by showing liability, causation, and damages. 

Liability requires we show that your loved one was under the facility’s and its staff’s explicit care. Additionally, we must show there was a lapse or complete disregard for the universal standard of patient care. We will need to enlist experts that can attest to the standard of care and how the facility and staff violated it.

Next, we will prove causation, which is that the nursing home’s negligent actions were the cause of harm to your loved one. The nursing home often cites a pre-existing condition to make it challenging, but we will work diligently to fight this accusation. Lastly, we will show the damages you and your loved one incurred from the abuse or neglect, such as additional medical bills and intangible losses.