When families choose a nursing home to care for an elderly or disabled family member, they trust that the nursing home’s administrators, medical personnel, and support staff will meet their loved one’s daily needs and treat them with the respect and dignity they deserve.
However, as recent data shows, far too many nursing homes betray that trust. Nursing home abuse and neglect is a serious and widespread problem in South Carolina. That needs to change.
At Jebaily Law Firm, our personal injury lawyers are committed to fighting the problem of nursing home abuse and neglect and protecting the rights of families in Florence and throughout South Carolina whose lives have been scarred by this problem.
If your loved one has suffered harm due to mistreatment in a nursing home or assisted living facility, our South Carolina nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys want to help you fight back. Call us at 855-713-0400 or contact us today to learn more and receive a free and confidential consultation about the potential for legal action.
Understanding Abuse and Neglect in Nursing Homes
The number of deficiencies issued by state health inspectors in recent years shows the seriousness of the problem of nursing home abuse and neglect. The South Carolina Department of Public Health issues a deficiency when it inspects a facility — as part of an annual inspection or to investigate a complaint — and finds a violation of regulations aimed at protecting residents and ensuring they receive high-quality care. Because most nursing homes in South Carolina participate in Medicare and Medicaid, they must follow the regulations, and they are subject to inspections.
Sadly, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report analyzing data from a recent seven-year period, the average number of deficiencies per certified nursing home in South Carolina was 7.52, with over 90 percent of nursing home facilities having deficiencies. During the past three years, 123 of the state’s 189 nursing home facilities (or 65 percent) have been cited for infection-related deficiencies, while serious deficiencies causing immediate jeopardy to a resident’s health or safety have been found at 75 nursing homes (nearly 40 percent), ProPublica reports.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
The mistreatment of nursing home residents can occur in many ways. Some of the most common types of nursing home abuse and neglect in South Carolina include:
- Emotional abuse occurs when nursing home residents suffer psychological harm from being subjected to cruel remarks, manipulation, isolation, and other forms of psychological abuse by staff members and fellow residents.
- Physical abuse is when residents suffer physical harm, in addition to emotional trauma, from physical violence, which can include assaults as well as using straps or other devices to forcefully restrain a resident.
- Sexual abuse happens when a resident is subjected to any form of unwanted sexual contact by any staff member, fellow resident, visitor, or other person allowed into the facility (which often involves the use of force or threatened use of force).
- Financial abuse involves a resident suffering financial harm caused by theft of their money, clothes, jewelry, keepsakes, or other belongings, or someone gaining control over the resident’s finances by using manipulation, coercion, or other wrongful means.
- Neglect happens when a nursing home fails to fulfill its basic duties to a resident by failing to attend to their daily medical, nutritional, hydration, and hygiene needs. A resident may also suffer a fall or wander from the facility into harm’s way due to neglect.
Identifying Signs of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
To guard against nursing home neglect and abuse, it is important to regularly visit your loved one, maintain steady communication with the nursing home’s administrators and staff members, and look out for any red flags indicating mistreatment. Some examples of signs indicating abuse and neglect at a nursing home facility include:
- Unexplained injuries such as bruises, cuts, sprains, fractures, or burns (when those marks appear around the wrists and ankles, it may indicate that staff has used physical restraints)
- Sudden loss of weight, which can be a sign that the resident is not getting enough nutrition or lacking proper hydration, or possibly a sign that they are not receiving prescribed medication
- Signs of non-consensual sexual contact, including bruising in genital areas or diagnosis of a sexually transmitted disease
- Indicators of neglect, such as bedsores, poor hygiene, unwashed clothes and bedding, unsafe living conditions, and lack of security
- Financial exploitation, such as missing cash, valuables, and other personal belongings, unexplained credit card purchases and account withdrawals, indications of identity theft, or changes to wills, trusts, and other estate planning documents
- Behavioral changes, including fear, stress, anxiety, depression, and noticeably different behavior when around certain members of the nursing home’s staff or other residents
What to Do If You Suspect Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect
If you have any reason to believe your loved one is being neglected or intentionally harmed in a nursing home, you should communicate your concern to the facility’s administrators and staff members. If you suspect abuse but your voice goes ignored, or the response is inadequate, you should take the following steps to protect the nursing home resident:
- Call 911 if your loved one faces life-threatening danger.
- Report the abuse to state officials, who can investigate the complaint.
- Do your best to document the suspected abuse or neglect, including taking photos of injuries and nursing home conditions and keeping copies of all written communication with the nursing home.
- Seek help from an experienced South Carolina nursing home abuse lawyer at Jebaily Law Firm. We can help you report the mistreatment, identify and gather evidence, and take steps to hold the nursing home financially responsible.
How Jebaily Law Firm Can Help
At Jebaily Law Firm, we are dedicated to helping families seek full and fair compensation for the physical, emotional, and financial damage caused by abuse and neglect in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Holding nursing homes financially accountable for the harm they cause not only helps harmed residents and their families move on in life, but it can also help protect others in South Carolina from similar harm in the future.
We’re ready to help you. Call us at 855-713-0400 or contact us today for a free case evaluation from our South Carolina nursing home abuse attorneys.
