Signs of Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home abuse can be subtle and difficult to detect. Preventing and stopping nursing home abuse and neglect unfortunately falls on family and visitors of those in nursing homes to be vigilant for any warning signs. Common signs of neglect and abuse include:

• Bedsores: Bedsores, also known as pressure ulcers, often occur when bedridden and immobile nursing home residents are not turned and repositioned in their beds and wheelchairs for a longer period of time (at least every two hours).
• Falls: Falling can happen absent neglect, however, in many circumstances, falls happen due to the failure of nursing home staff to properly and adequately monitor their residents.  In addition, some residents require nursing home staff to help the person in and out of bed and/or wheelchair or even while walking around the premises. If nursing home staff fail to do this, or do this carelessly and negligently, the resident can fall and sustain serious injuries as a result.
• Infections: Infections often occur because nursing home staff fail to follow their infection control policies, which at the most basic level requires them to practice proper hygiene and maintain a clean environment.  Infections can also happen when nursing home staff allow certain medical conditions to go untreated.  Nursing home staff should also be trained in identifying the signs and symptoms of infection so that once an infection is suspected, the resident can receive proper and timely treatment. When staff fail to timely identify an infection, it can become cause serious medical complications and can become life threatening.
• Malnutrition or Dehydration: Weight loss in the elderly can be a sign of malnutrition and should be timely and appropriately addressed by staff, dieticians and physicians.  Dehydration is a serious issue for a nursing home resident and can happen in a relatively short amount of time.  Nursing home staff should be monitoring for signs and symptoms of dehydration in order to prevent severe consequences. 
• Elopement or Wandering Residents: Elopement happens when nursing home staff fail to monitor the resident, allowing them to wander into an unsafe environment and sometimes even leave the facility entirely.  
• Unexplained cuts, bruises, or fractures: While bruises in the elderly are not uncommon and may even be expected, unexplained bruising, especially in certain areas, should be investigated to rule out potential abuse.
• Theft: It is unfortunately not uncommon for nursing home residents to have their possessions "disappear" without explanation.  When expensive or important items go missing, theft should be suspected and investigated.  
• Medication Errors/Overmedication: While perhaps not as prominent as it once was, a nursing home can and still do sometimes overmedicate a resident for purposes of sedation and control.  More often, overmedication or other medication errors happen due to undertraining of staff and lack of adequate staffing.  Medication errors simply should not happen when a facility staffs its facility with adequate and appropriately trained staff.   

Allegations of abuse in care homes should be investigated as soon as possible. When someone suspects that some form of elder abuse or neglect has occurred, the first thing they should do is document the incident. They can also report, and in some instances are required to report, the suspected abuse or neglect to the Long-Term Care Ombudsman CRISISline at 1-800-231-4024 or the California Department of Public Health.

In California, the statute of limitations for a nursing home abuse claim is, generally, two years. This means that a plaintiff must bring their claim against the defendant within two years of the date of the abuse/neglect. Waiting longer than two years will most likely result in their claim being dismissed.

Elder abuse claims are very difficult matters to handle and requires an experienced California nursing home abuse attorney.  If you have a serious legal issue involving nursing home abuse, contact Hunter Law today to schedule a consultation.