What are Some Examples of Nursing Home Abuse?

Nursing home abuse, unlike nursing home neglect, is an intentional tort. Intentional tort actors, like assault actors, intend both the conduct (hitting someone) and the result (hurting someone). Unintentional tort actors, like nursing home workers who permit resident-on-resident assaults, intend the conduct (ignoring the situation) but not the result (someone getting hurt).

For a victim and a Carlsbad personal injury lawyer, the additional intent usually means additional compensation is available. This compensation is normally punitive damages, which have the same effect as fines in criminal court. This additional compensation may be available, but only a well-prepared and determined lawyer can obtain it.

Physical Abuse

Frequently, nursing home workers push or pull residents who don’t quickly move from a certain place or get up from chairs. The effects of physical abuse can be visible, such as bruises, broken bones, or scars. Nevertheless, physical abuse is often difficult to detect. Injuries may be hidden or family members may overlook them.

Sexual abuse in nursing homes, which is any non-consensual sexual contact or behavior, is a particularly distressing form of nursing home abuse. Residents who experience sexual abuse, even something like being forced to witness sex acts or watch pornography, may suffer from physical injuries, sexually transmitted diseases, and/or severe emotional trauma. Because elderly individuals, especially those with cognitive impairments, might have difficulty communicating their experiences, sexual abuse is often underreported.

Many nursing home workers believe a slight amount of force won’t cause a serious injury. A Carlsbad personal injury lawyer convinces them otherwise.

Emotional or Psychological Abuse

This kind of abuse involves behaviors that cause mental or emotional distress to elderly individuals, including verbal assaults, threats, humiliation, intimidation, or isolation. Staff members may insult, belittle, or ignore residents, leading to feelings of fear, anxiety, depression, or low self-worth. The impact of emotional abuse may not always be immediately visible, but over time, it can severely damage a resident’s mental health.

These intentional torts are slightly different from others. Intentional infliction of emotional distress is rather hard to prove.

Financial Exploitation

Organizational and individual financial exploitation occur at many SoCal nursing homes. In general, financial abuse is the misuse of a resident’s financial resources for the benefit of others, typically caregivers or other individuals with access to the resident’s finances.

Organizational abuse often involves misuse of guardianship laws. Some long-term care facilities go to court and become the legal guardian of a resident, giving the institution legal power over all the resident’s money.

Unlike organizational financial exploitation, individual financial exploitation comes in many forms. Examples include stealing money, forging checks, manipulating residents into signing legal documents, or using their assets for personal gain. Residents who suffer from cognitive impairments such as dementia are particularly vulnerable to financial exploitation because they may not fully understand or be able to communicate what is happening to them.

Involuntary Seclusion

Most intentional torts are malicious, at some level. Involuntary seclusion isn’t always malicious, but it’s still intentional and still harmful.

Involuntary seclusion is intentionally isolating a resident from others, usually as a form of punishment, and sometimes because the nursing home is so understaffed there’s no one to watch the resident. Such isolation, regardless of the length of time, can cause feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and depression, and may lead to further psychological or physical decline.

Reach Out to a Diligent San Diego County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Carlsbad, contact the Pursley Law Firm. You have a limited amount of time to act.