Types of Neglect in Nursing Homes

Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

According to the National Center of Eldercare Abuse of the NCEA, roughly 95% of nursing home residents have been neglected or have witnessed neglect in some way. Inadequate care nursing homes can have serious consequences, even including death. However, residents and their loved ones can help to prevent neglect. But you might be wondering just what nursing home neglect is and how you see it.

What Is the Difference Between Elder Neglect and Elder Abuse?

The National Center of Eldercare Abuse categorizes elder neglect as a type of elder abuse. Elder abuse is the mistreatment of older adults by those who are in a position of trust. While many types of elder abuse involve direct harm to their victims, while neglect causes harm to substandard care or failure to report caregiving activities as expected.

Elder neglect can take many forms, and knowing those forms can be an important way to help you and your nursing home abuse lawyer in NJ catch onto elder neglect in your family members’ lives while they are in a nursing home or under care of a nurse. 

A very common form of elder abuse seen in nursing homes is considered “nursing home neglect”, which is the failure of the staff and other individuals who are responsible for an elderly person’s care failing to provide that care. Nursing home neglect can cover a lot of different types of neglect, most of which occur in the nursing home setting.

Medical neglect often occurs in nursing home settings, which is when nursing home staff members fail to properly attend to the patient’s medical needs, or prevent their medical concerns. This could be bedsores, infections, mobility issues going untreated, inadequate care for disorders such as diabetes and much more. If you notice signs of this type of neglect, you can reach out to a nursing home abuse lawyer in NJ, such as the ones available at Davis & Brusca, LLC

Neglect is also the neglect of basic needs such as providing a resident with clean water, clothing, bedding, food and a safe environment. There is also the neglect of personal hygiene in patients that require hygienic care, as well as social and emotional neglect which might involve a resident being ignored by their caretakers. 

Whatever the kind of neglect your elderly loved one is experiencing, you can reach out to a nursing home abuse lawyer in NJ if you are able to acquire proof of said neglect such as bruising, bedsores, or worsening medical conditions while in the care of professionals. Nursing home neglect is such an issue because family members may not know what to watch out for, or who to go too. A good nursing home abuse lawyer in NJ is going to be able to help you go through your loved one’s history and the nursing home’s history for proof of abuse so that you and your loved one can seek compensation and retribution against the caretakers responsible.