As seniors age, many start to have trouble caring for themselves, including keeping up with their medical needs and ensuring they maintain the quality of life they deserve throughout the last years of their life. Entering into a nursing home should provide them with the high standard of care and support necessary to extend their final years and enjoy an increase in overall health. Unfortunately, some nursing homes fail to uphold their duty of care to seniors who rely on their support.
Did you or a loved one suffer negligence in a Peoria nursing home? A Peoria nursing home abuse attorney can help you learn more about your rights, including whether you may deserve compensation for both financial and non-financial losses sustained as a result of that negligence. Contact our experienced Peoria personal injury lawyers at Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys today for your free consultation.
Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help Peoria Nursing Home Neglect Victims Pursue Justice
Nursing home neglect can substantially impact every area of the victim’s health and overall quality of life. At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we act as a voice for nursing home neglect victims as we help them pursue the compensation they may deserve for the maltreatment they have received at the hands of nursing home staff.
Peoria Nursing Homes
You might find problems at these and many other nursing or care homes that rise to negligent or abusive behavior:
- Sharon Health Care Elms
- Lutheran Hillside Village
- River Crossing of Peoria
- Apostolic Christian Skylines
- Accolade Healthcare of Peoria
- Bel-Wood Nursing Home
- Manor Court of Peoria
When one of those local nursing homes or any other Rockford-area care facility neglects you or a loved one, you may find yourself struggling to figure out what to do next. At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we help guide our clients through every step of a claim.
We help Peoria nursing home neglect victims discover whether they have the right to file a claim and collect evidence to establish that right.
Often, to establish your right to file a nursing home neglect claim, you will need to show evidence of the neglect you have suffered at the hands of nursing home staff members. You may not even know whether you have suffered neglect.
At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we can help go over the lack of care you have received and provide you with comprehensive information about whether you may have grounds for a claim and what evidence you will need to present to establish your right to compensation. We also help our clients collect that evidence, from clearly documenting interactions with nursing home staff to working with medical professionals to show how that neglect may have impacted the victim’s overall health.
We break down the compensation Peoria nursing home neglect victims may deserve for their losses.
Neglect in a nursing home can impact a patient physically and psychologically. Often, patients will discover that their overall health decreases significantly due to neglect, resulting in the need for additional medical care or further support. At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we help our clients examine their financial losses due to nursing home neglect and gather them to create a compelling nursing home neglect claim demanding the compensation they deserve for those injuries and losses.
We help fight for justice on our clients’ behalf.
When a senior suffers neglect in a nursing home, he deserves justice. At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we help aggressively pursue that justice, from negotiating with the nursing home or the nursing home’s insurance company to going to court to fight for the compensation our clients deserve. We stand as a voice for those who may not have the ability to speak for themselves and fight for the justice that our clients deserve.
At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we often find that we can help nursing home neglect victims recover more compensation than they could have recovered on their own. Do not let the nursing home or its insurance company brush aside the impact of the neglect you or a loved one has suffered.
Signs of Neglect in Peoria Nursing Homes
When you have a loved one in a nursing home, you may not know what standard of care to expect or how to judge whether your loved one receives the comprehensive care they deserve. However, some signs may indicate neglect, either of your loved one’s overall needs or the medical care your loved one needs.
Your loved one suffers from frequent injuries.
As seniors age, they may naturally prove more prone to injury. Some seniors may have trouble with balance, while others may notice they fall or run into things more often. The skin may become more fragile with age leading to more injuries. However, nursing homes should prevent injuries in their residents as much as possible. If your loved one suffers from persistent injuries in the nursing home, it could indicate neglect.
Your loved one elopes from a secure unit due to a lack of supervision.
Some seniors need to stay in a secure unit where they receive constant supervision. Patients with Alzheimer’s or severe dementia, in particular, may need to remain in the nursing home unless a family member or loved one picks them up to take them out while supervised.
These units often have special locks on the doors and constant supervision of residents. If a senior manages to leave due to poor supervision or negligent use of those precautions, the nursing home may bear liability for the incident.
Your loved one shows signs of malnutrition or dehydration.
Nursing home staff often bears responsibility for ensuring that their patients eat and drink regularly. Nursing homes may provide food and drink in various ways but must ensure that residents have access to it when needed. If a loved one starts to show signs of malnutrition or dehydration, you may need to check further into the care provided by the nursing home.
Your loved one becomes non-communicative or withdrawn.
Many seniors do not want to speak out about neglect. They may feel ashamed that they cannot care for themselves or worried that they will have to bear the consequences of that neglect. If you notice your loved one growing increasingly withdrawn, look further into the care provided by the nursing home since it could indicate substantial neglect.
Your loved one suffers from bedsores.
When seniors end up confined to bed, they may need help moving around to decrease the risk of pressure sores. Seniors who spend all day sitting with little movement or activity may have a higher risk of developing pressure sores. If you find that your loved one regularly suffers from pressure or bedsores, it could indicate that the nursing home staff has not provided adequate care for your loved one’s needs.
Your loved one’s medical conditions become significantly worse.
Many seniors have underlying health conditions that they manage with diet, exercise, or medication. As your loved one ages, some of those conditions may naturally grow more difficult to manage. However, suppose a condition previously managed with medication and diet begins to swing out of control. In that case, it could indicate that the nursing home staff has failed to provide adequate care for your loved one.
You notice your loved one’s overall hygiene decreasing.
Many seniors need more help with bathing and other self-care tasks. However, as neglect seeps in at the nursing home, your loved one may not get that much-needed help. You may notice that your loved one develops body odor or that your loved one wears the same clothing multiple days in a row.
Why Does Negligence Occur in Peoria Nursing Homes?
Most seniors expect a high standard of care in their nursing homes. In an ideal environment, the caregivers at those nursing homes will take the steps needed to ensure that seniors receive that high standard of care. Even with best intentions, however, some nursing homes may struggle to keep up with the needs of their residents.
Negligence can result from a variety of challenges within a nursing facility.
Inadequate Staffing
Some nursing homes simply do not have enough staff on hand to take care of the needs of their residents. In some cases, nursing homes may not hire adequate staff, especially those who require a higher standard of care. In other instances, staffing shortages or lack of available employees can make it difficult to keep a nursing home fully staffed.
Poor Communication
Some residents may fall through the cracks in nursing homes with poor communication. Employees might not share adequate information about a resident’s needs or who has already been cared for during a shift, making it more difficult for employees to determine what residents need at any given time.
High Turnover
Many nursing homes struggle with high turnover as employees leave for other positions. During times of high turnover, it can be challenging to keep up with individual job responsibilities since those duties may change from one shift to the next. Employees may also not receive adequate training during periods of high turnover, which can cause them to inadvertently fail to deliver the standard of care that seniors in nursing homes deserve.
Employee Error/Deliberate Negligence
In some cases, employees may fail in their duty of care to their patients. Nursing homes that do not carefully monitor patient care may have a higher risk of missing acts of negligence committed by their employees.
How To Determining Liability in Peoria Nursing Home Negligence Claims?
Most of the time, the nursing home where neglect occurs will bear liability for any negligent actions committed by its employees. Nursing homes need to provide a high standard of care for residents, and when they fail in that duty, the nursing home itself may bear the brunt of a legal claim. However, in some cases, nursing homes may share liability with others who contributed to that negligence.
Staffing Agencies That Supply Negligent Employees
Some nursing homes rely on staffing agencies to provide employees, especially if they need to fill gaps due to high employee turnover or a staffing shortage. However, those staffing agencies should carefully screen potential candidates for the skills necessary to work in a nursing home and that they do not have a history of negligence or abuse. When a staffing agency supplies a negligent employee, that agency may bear partial liability for the employee’s actions.
Doctors
Sometimes, nursing homes may contract directly with medical care providers to help care for residents of that nursing home. When doctors do not work as nursing home employees, the nursing home may not bear liability for the actions of that medical provider. A doctor who fails to provide adequate medical care for a senior patient in a nursing home, or to report signs of neglect, may bear partial liability for the damages sustained by the patient.
The Compensation You Can Recover for Nursing Home Neglect
If you suffered nursing home neglect in Peoria, you might have the right to recover compensation for your damages. At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we cannot guarantee what compensation you will recover for your injuries.
However, compensation breaks down into:
- Compensation for any increased medical expenses you faced as a direct result of the nursing home negligence
- Compensation for the increased cost of care, including moving expenses to help you move into a new facility and the increase in cost for more intensive care
- Compensation for your pain and suffering
Talk to a lawyer to learn more about how much compensation you might expect after suffering nursing home negligence.
Contact a Peoria Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer Today
Did you or a loved one suffer negligence in a Peoria nursing home? Do not attempt to handle the claim alone. Contact Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys today at (309) 518-1413 to schedule your free consultation.
