The decision to entrust an elderly family member’s daily care to an assisted living facility can be one of the hardest you ever make, especially if you are concerned they might not receive the level of care and support they deserve. Unfortunately, far too many families in Kentucky end up discovering the nursing home they chose for their loved ones is neglecting or abusing their residents.
In this unimaginable situation, having support from our Covington nursing home abuse lawyers at O'Connor, Acciani & Levy could be crucial. Beyond just protecting your loved one from further harm, a dedicated personal injury attorney could also take the lead on your family’s behalf in seeking financial restitution for the harm that has already been done.
Potential Warning Signs of Nursing Home Mistreatment
Among other things, what makes nursing home abuse so dangerous is how difficult it can often be for even the most diligent family members and friends to identify. Many types of mistreatment that go on in disreputable facilities do not produce easily visible symptoms, and the residents experiencing this harm may be too cognitively impaired to communicate what is happening.
With that in mind, knowing what to look for can be crucial for family members hoping to protect their loved ones from suffering harm due to misconduct by nursing home staff members, administrators, and/or owners.
Signs of abuse include:
- Dehydration or malnutrition
- Unhygienic living conditions
- Bedsores
- Unexplained or abnormally common physical injuries
- Sudden changes in a resident’s mood or personality
In some cases, simply reporting these kinds of symptoms could be enough to resolve an inadvertent mistake and make a nursing home safe for all its residents. In more serious situations, it may be necessary to remove impacted residents from the nursing home and contact our Covington attorney at O'Connor, Acciani & Levy to determine what steps you should take next regarding the abuse.
Taking Legal Action on a Loved One’s Behalf
Nursing homes have a duty to care for the day-to-day needs and preserve the legal rights of all their residents, and any failure to do so—intentional or accidental—could be grounds for civil litigation if it directly leads to a resident suffering avoidable physical harm. In addition to objective financial losses like medical expenses, a comprehensive nursing home abuse claim could demand restitution for non-economic pain and suffering experienced by an impacted resident, and potentially even punitive damages against the facility responsible for their mistreatment.
If nursing home neglect or abuse directly leads to a resident’s premature death, their surviving family members may have grounds to pursue recovery for their own ensuing financial and personal losses through a wrongful death case.
Our compassionate lawyers at O'Connor, Acciani & Levy in Covington can clarify what options might be available in your specific nursing home abuse case.
Speak with a Covington Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Today
While it may be hard to imagine anyone knowingly abusing or neglecting vulnerable senior citizens, this unfortunately happens with appalling regularity in nursing homes across Kentucky. While civil recovery in a situation like this cannot erase the harm already done, it could be crucial to maximizing quality of life going forward for anyone impacted by a nursing home employee’s negligence or malice.
Our Covington personal injury lawyers at O'Connor, Acciani & Levy can discuss your unique circumstances in detail during a confidential consultation. Schedule yours by calling today.
