What is nursing home abuse and neglect?
Nursing home abuse and neglect are pointed out when caretakers harm the patients and residents intentionally and unintentionally. Such abuse can result in trauma, medical emergencies, and even the death of the patient.
There are various kinds of abuses that can be observed. We are going to discuss the different types of abuses later on in our article.
How to Spot Abuse in a Nursing Home?
There are several kinds of abuse that your Self- loved and the elderly might face in various nursing homes. . Knowing these warning signs are essential for the safety of your family members in such nursing homes.
Such abuses in a nursing home might be neglected by the family members when the same is happening to an older person. They may believe that the person has developed dementia and is therefore not making any sense.
While signs of such abuse and neglect can overlap with mental disorientation, such cases should be closely investigated.
Types of nursing home abuse
1. Physical Abuse
Signs of physical abuse are as follows:
- Having unexplained broken bones, dislocations or sprains
- Signs of restraint on the patient’s wrist
- Failing to take medications properly
Broken eyeglasses
- The caregiver doesn’t let you be alone with the patient
- Bruising, welts or scar seen on the body
2. Emotional Abuse
Signs of emotional abuse are as follows:
- Usual behavior in the patient. Such behavior could resemble dementia and mumbling behavior.
- Witnessing belittling, threatening or controlling behavior on the part of the caregiver.
3. Sexual Abuse
Signs of sexual abuse are as follows:
- Unexplained STDs or other genital infections
- Anal or Vaginal bleeding unrelated to a medical condition
Stained, bloody or torn underwear
- Bruising around the breasts
- or genitals
4. Financial Abuse:
Signs of financial abuse are as follows:
- Changes in the financial situation of the patient
- Unexplained withdrawals from the patient’s bank accounts
- Changes in the power of attorney, life insurance policies, property titles or wills
- Missing cash from the patient’s room or home
- Adding unknown names to the signature card of the patient’s credit cards
- ATM withdrawals when the patient is bedridden and couldn’t have done it themselves
- Lack of medical care despite having money to afford it
- Unusual goods, services or subscriptions the patient couldn’t have signed on for
5. Caregiver Neglect
Signs of caregiver neglect are as follows:
- Leaving the patient alone at a public location
- Being unsuitably dressed for the weather
Unsafe living conditions:
- Leaving the patient’s dirty
- Having an unusual loss of weight
- Living with soiled bed clothing, or dirty conditions
- The presence of bedsores from not cleaning the patient regularly
6. Healthcare Fraud
Sign of healthcare fraud are as follows:
- Evidence of getting an inappropriate quantity of medication
- Evidence of poor care
- Having duplicate bills for the same services
- Insufficient number of staff to care for the patient
- A lack of adequate training for the staff
How to prevent such cases?
There are various instances where such abuse is neglected. Thankfully, if you know how to spot abuse in a nursing home, you can prevent such instances by:
- Recognizing the signs and causes of such abuse
- Reporting suspected abuse or neglect to authorities
- Understanding its many forms
- Taking legal action against nursing home staff if needed