Personal Injury Defense

Nursing Home Injuries and Elderly Abuse

Lawyers in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham

Nursing home abuse lawyers in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, or Durham are important to have during nursing home injuries and elderly abuse.  Each year thousands of elderly Americans become victims of Nursing Home Abuse. Whether the abuse is done intentionally or through negligence, many elderly people are severely injured or killed through the acts of nursing home staff. Placing a loved one in an assisted living center or nursing home can be an extremely painful act in itself. However, due to the hustle of everyday life, many of us are forced to place loved ones in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. When we place our loved ones in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, we entrust the nursing home staff to treat our loved ones with dignity, respect, and take good care of their physical and mental well being. Unfortunately, all too often, members of the Nursing home staff or assisted living facility exhibit careless or negligent behavior that can lead to the injury or even death of our loved ones. Occasionally, intentional harmful conduct even occurs.

There are many signs of possible nursing home neglect or abuse. One of those would include untreated bedsores and smelly fecal or urine odors. Excessive weight lost or an extremely pale complexion on an elderly person can also signal nursing home abuse. Open wounds, bruises, injuries or torn clothes can all signal abuse or neglect. Lice, fleas, flies, and bugs in the patient's room can all be a sign of gross neglect. Unattended health problems and extremely poor hygiene are also usually signs of nursing home neglect. If one finds nursing home patients wandering about the hallways or even outside of the nursing home facility, that is also a sign that the staff may not be properly looking after their patients.

Some examples of the negligent acts or omissions that the nursing home staff may commit are as follows:

1. Not cleaning up urine or fecal matter in the patient's bed or living areas
2. Not properly feeding the patient or giving the patient an adequate amount of fluids
3. Allowing the patient to fall out of a bed or wheelchair
4. Allowing the patient to become injured while using the bathroom and/or shower facilities
5. Allowing bedsores to develop on patients
6. Prescribing the wrong medication or allowing the patient to take medication in the wrong dosage

Even more egregious behavior by nursing home staff and assisted living facility staff members include direct assaults, batteries, and sexual abuse, verbal, and psychological abuse. While you’re loved ones are the ones that you love and cherish the most, they can be no more than patients and customers to certain staff members.

Assaults would include staff members physically striking your elderly family member or throwing an object to scare your loved one.  These can stem from frustration, anger, or a multitude of other unjustified reasons.  An example would include a nurse shoving an elderly man out of his bed because he would not eat fast enough.  Assaults and batteries are intentional torts, which can bring about compensatory and punitive damages.  Sexual abuse would include unauthorized offensive touching and rape. These crimes are done for the sexual gratification of the offender.  What is most unfortunate is that many of the victims are too weak to defend themselves and some may be mentally infirm to the point where they do not even realize that they are being sexually abused or assaulted. An example of this would include a nurse touching an elderly man's genitals for her own gratification when he is too weak to push her away.

Verbal and psychological abuse is the most frequent abuses that occur in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. When staff members scream profane remarks and use abusive language towards patients on a consistent basis that could constitute intentional infliction of emotional distress. Frequent derogatory remarks can lead to the elderly patient developing psychological damage. An example of this could include a supervisor making daily remarks about an elderly man's physique and weight. In addition, he may be making harsh statements concerning his smell, living habits, and inability to perform tasks such as using the restroom. Such remarks add up and cumulatively could cause psychological harm. North Carolina is a state that recognizes both intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

It is very important to know that the government has passed laws that somewhat protect the rights of nursing home patients. These laws are frequently called the "Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights." They include:

1. The Right to Be Informed Residents has the right to be informed about the policies of the nursing home and about their personal rights. Upon admittance to the home, residents must be informed of these policies and rights.
2. The Right to Choose a Physician Resident has the right to choose their own physicians and pharmacies. They do not have to use the nursing home's physician or pharmacy.
3. The Right to Know about Medical Conditions Residents have the right to be fully informed of their medical conditions, unless their physician believes it is not in the patient's best interest to be told.
4. The Right to Participate in the Plan of Care Residents must be given the opportunity to participate in the planning of their own medical treatment. This includes the right to refuse treatment.
5. The Right to Be Free from Abuse and Restraints Residents have the right to be free from mental and physical abuse and chemical and physical restraints. Only a physician can authorize a restraint, and this can happen only when there is a threat of injury.
6. The Right to Privacy, Dignity, and Respect Residents have the right to be treated with consideration, respect, and full recognition of their dignity and individuality, including privacy in treatment and in care of their personal needs.
7. The Right to Manage Personal Finances Residents have the right to either manage their own funds or authorize someone else to manage them. If residents authorize the nursing home to handle their funds, they have additional rights:
1. To know the whereabouts of their funds and account numbers
2. To receive a written accounting statement every three months
3. To receive a receipt for any funds spent
4. To have access to their funds within seven banking days
8. The Right to See Visitors Residents have the following rights regarding visitation:
1. Residents may receive any visitor of their choosing, may refuse a visitor permission to enter their rooms, and may end a visit at any time.
2. Residents have the right to immediate access by family and reasonable access to others.
3. Eight visiting hours per day must be must be posted in a public place.
4. Members of community organizations and legal services may enter any nursing home during visiting hours.
5. Communication between residents and visitors is confidential.
6. Visitors may talk to all residents and offer them personal, social, and legal services.
7. Visitors may help residents claim their rights and benefits through individual assistance, counseling, organizational activity, legal action, or other forms of representation.
9. The Right to Confidentiality Residents have the right to confidentiality of personal medical records and the right to access those records within 24 hours after a request.
10. The Right to Be Made Aware of Services and Charges Residents have the right to be made aware of the nursing home's services and of the charges related to those services. This includes charges for services not covered by the facility's fee, Medicare, or Medicaid.
11. The Right to Voice Grievance without Retaliation Residents have the right to voice grievances and recommend changes in policies and services to facility staff and/or outside representatives of their choice without fear of coercion, discrimination, or reprisal.
12. The Right to Organize and Participate in Groups Residents has the right to organize and participate in resident groups in the nursing home. Residents' families also have the right to gather in the facility with families of other residents.
13. The Right to Participate in Social, Religious, and Community Activities Residents have the right to participate in social, religious, and community activities that do not interfere with the rights of other residents in the nursing home.
14. The Right to Examine Reviews Residents has the right to examine the results of the most recent review of the nursing home. The government requires nursing homes to be reviewed once a year.
15. The Right to Remain in the Nursing Home Residents may only be discharged or transferred for medical reasons, for their welfare, or for the welfare of other residents. They must be provided with a written 30-day notification of the transfer or discharge.

The attorneys and lawyers of Everett Law Firm, P.A. understand the issues surrounding nursing home injuries and elderly abuse in North Carolina. For a free legal consultation, feel free to email us or call our office, conveniently located in Chapel Hill, to discuss your case. Our toll free phone number is (800) 942-8048.