Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys in Lee’s Summit, MO

What are the different forms of nursing home abuse?

The seven different forms of nursing home abuse are:

• Neglect. This form of abuse is the intentional failure to provide caretaking duties to a nursing home resident. Some examples of neglect include failing to provide necessary medical devices or services, failing to provide the basic necessities like food and water, and failing to assist in the personal hygiene of the nursing home resident.
• Abandonment. This form of abuse is the intentional desertion of a nursing home resident by a caregiver. Seniors who find themselves alone in a public location or in a long-term care center can be considered abandoned by their caregivers.
• Financial abuse. This form of abuse is the illegal and immoral use of a senior’s assets. Some forms of financial abuse include writing personal checks without the senior’s permission, manipulating a senior to sign over guardianship rights, and forging a senior’s signature on documents.
• Emotional abuse. This form of abuse is the intentional infliction of pain and distress through nonverbal and verbal actions. When caregivers hurl verbal insults, threats, or intimidation tactics on nursing home residents, they are emotionally abusing those residents. One method that caregivers use to execute emotional abuse on a resident is social isolation. This is when a nursing home resident is purposely kept away from all social connections and given the “silent treatment.”
• Sexual abuse. This form of abuse is non-consensual sexual contact between the caregiver and the nursing home resident. Inappropriate sexual acts like sodomy, unwanted touching, coerced nudity, and taking sexually explicit photos are forms of sexual abuse that happen in nursing homes. Some signs that sexual abuse is happening to a nursing home resident consist of torn or stained clothing, bruising around the genitals, unexplained venereal diseases, and unexplained bleeding around the genitals.
• Physical abuse. This form of abuse is the use of physical force that can cause physical pain and serious injury to a nursing home resident. Some forms of physical abuse involve hitting, slapping, shaking, burning, and pinching residents. Physical abuse can also include physically attempting to restrain and force residents into confinements, or even force-feeding residents to take their medications.
• Self-neglect. Self-neglect is the final form of nursing home abuse. It occurs when the elderly can no longer care for themselves but fails to obtain the care and assistance they need from someone else.

What are the signs of nursing home abuse and neglect?

Some signs of nursing home abuse and neglect are obvious – physical bruises, dirty rooms, unsafe pathways, missing bedrails – but others may not be. Call our nursing home neglect attorneys in Lee’s Summit if you notice any of the following signs:

• Changes in your loved one’s hygiene
• Changes in your loved one’s personality, including withdrawal from social activities
• Bruising around the wrists or ankles, which may indicate physical constraints
• Bruising around the genitals or anus, or blood in urine or stool
• Unexpected weight loss
• Reacting to certain residents or staff members with fear