A nursing home or assisted living facility should be a safe place where your loved one is cared for when they are unable to care for themselves.
Unfortunately, our firm receives many calls from concerned family members after their loved ones have been subjected to abuse, neglect, or insufficient medical care while residing in a nursing home or assisted living facility.
A Florida assisted living facility made national news last month. A video of a resident mercilessly beating another resident surfaced. This alarming video raised questions about the safety of the most vulnerable adults in places meant to protect and care for them. In the video, a younger resident is observed punching an older resident with dementia. The resident punched him more than fifty times as the man lay curled up on the floor.
This Florida assisted living facility, the Good Samaritan Retirement Home, had a history of violations, and more sanctions in the past five years than any other assisted living facility in the state. At the time of the incident, there were no staff members attending to residents in the unit, and staff had been assigned to monitor the facility’s video surveillance.
News reports cited statements made by the facility’s administrator in the police report. The administrator reportedly broke down and cried as she told law enforcement that she was “overwhelmed” at the facility because it was short-staffed and had poorly trained employees. Unfortunately, our attorneys often hear from clients that the nursing home or assisted living facility where their loved one resided was often understaffed, or only staffed with low-skilled employees that were unable to properly care for residents.
Here are some warning signs to look for to determine if your loved one has been abused or neglected in a nursing home or assisted living facility.
- Changes in the resident’s behavior and personality
- Frequent tension between the resident and their caregiver or facility staff
- Unexplained broken bones, dislocations, or sprains
- Bruising, scars or welts on the resident’s body
- Broken eyeglasses
- Refusal of the caregiver or facility staff to let you be along with the resident
- Witnessing belittling, controlling or threatening behavior on the part of the facility staff
- Not bathing the resident or leaving them dirty
- Living with soiled linens, dirty clothes, bugs or dirty conditions
- The presence of bed sores from not turning the resident regularly
- Unusual loss of weight or dehydration
