Murfreesboro Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers

If your loved one has been a victim, our Murfreesboro nursing home abuse lawyers can help. Our dedicated team of experienced personal injury lawyers at our firm will fight for you and help you recover compensation. We go after the parties responsible for elder abuse or neglect and hold them accountable. Our team offers a free, no-risk case evaluation to see how we can help you.

For a free consultation, call 800-800-4600 today.

You might be reading this page because you know your loved one is a victim and you want to know your options for holding the abuser or facility accountable. In that case, our attorneys can investigate your case and map out a plan to hold liable the ones responsible for your loved one’s abuse.

But we also hear from many people who are not sure if what is happening to their loved one counts as abuse. As a general rule, if you think it might be abuse, it probably is. Many forms of elder abuse are not apparent and do not manifest in easy-to-spot signs such as black eyes.

If you have any suspicions about the care your loved one is receiving — or even just an uneasy feeling — you should take action. Here are the five types of abuse nursing home residents can suffer:

Physical Abuse

When most people think of abuse in any context, they think of physical violence. Unfortunately, physical abuse does comprise a hefty portion of nursing home abuse cases.

It should be noted though that not all physical contact between a resident and caregiver constitutes abuse. In some cases, the caregiver may need to restrain a resident for their own safety. However, a caregiver should never use more physical force than is necessary with a resident, whether out of carelessness, frustration, or sheer malice. Here are some examples of unacceptable physical contact, all of which constitute abuse:

• Hitting, punching, or kicking
• Excessive restraint
• Hair pulling
• Pushing or shoving
• Spitting
• Burning
• Pinching

Emotional Abuse

Most people realize how physically vulnerable nursing home residents can be. However, many people do not always consider that older adults in nursing homes are also very often lonely, confused, and scared. Their caregivers have a duty to treat them with empathy and compassion at all times.

Unfortunately, caregivers can fall short of this duty. And in some cases, these failures cross the line into emotional abuse. Emotional abuse can include:

• Insults
• Derogatory remarks
• Isolation
• Manipulation
• Taunting
• Threatening statements

Sexual Abuse

Apart from rape and inappropriate touching, sexual abuse also includes unwanted advances, inappropriate comments, and even dirty jokes. In short, it is never okay for interactions between a caregiver and a resident to become sexual in any way.

Financial Abuse

Financial abuse happens when a caregiver uses their position to extract money or gifts from a resident. It does not have to, and frequently does not, involve outright theft. All of these situations qualify as financial abuse:

• Unauthorized use of a resident’s credit card
• Borrowing money from a resident without their consent
• Convincing a resident to buy gifts or other items
• Asking a resident for inclusion in a will or trust

Nursing Home Neglect

Sometimes it is not a caregiver’s actions but rather their lack of action that constitutes nursing home abuse. In these situations, we call it neglect. Here are a few typical examples of nursing home neglect:

• Failure to provide adequate food or water
• Failure to bathe a resident or provide clean clothes or bedsheets
• Failure to administer a resident’s medication on schedule
• Failure to reposition a bedridden resident to avoid bedsores
• Failure to follow a nursing home resident’s fall prevention plan
• Failure to assist a resident who needs help getting from their room to another place in the facility

Perhaps the saddest part about nursing home abuse is that the victims are so defenseless. Some residents do not even know they are the victims of abuse or neglect. Or if they do, they may be afraid to speak up because they rely so much on their abuser for basic needs.

For these reasons, if you have a loved one in a nursing home, you need to be their eyes and ears. You can stop abuse by learning how to recognize the signs:

• Physical injuries with no clear cause, such as bruises, cuts, scrapes, and burns (This may be difficult to determine as older adults are prone to falls and often bruise more easily than a younger person does. But if the bruises occur often, this could be a sign of abuse.)
• Changes in personality
• Fear or apprehension while in the presence of a particular caregiver
• A caregiver’s unwillingness to leave you alone with your loved one
• Trauma to the genital area
• Bedsores
• Dirty clothes, dirty bedsheets, or an unkempt appearance
• Changes in medication without explanation
• Unexplained credit card charges or ATM fees

If you suspect your loved one is a victim, even if you are not 100 percent sure, say something.

If you suspect a caregiver is abusing or neglecting your loved one, take the following steps:

• If you feel the danger is imminent, call 911.
• Report your suspicions to a supervisor or the facility owner or manager.
• Make a report with the local police.
• Call 1-800-APS-TENN to file a report with Tennessee Adult Protective Services.
• Schedule a free case evaluation with Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers in Murfreesboro.