If you placed your elderly loved one in a nursing home, you expect them to receive treatment with care and respect. If your elderly loved one is suffering from any unexplained bruises, cuts, or burns as a nursing home resident, you have the right to take legal action against the nursing home facility. Reach out to Pintas & Mullins Law Firm to help you determine your loved one’s legal rights in cases of elder mistreatment.
Physical Abuse in Nursing Homes
Physical elder abuse is any infliction of physical harm upon an elderly resident of a nursing home. Physical elder abuse may include hitting, shoving, slapping, burning, physically restraining, pushing, or scratching the elderly person. The elderly residents of nursing homes rely on nursing home employees and management to ensure that their needs remain adequately attended to every day, and without their assistance, they may suffer great physical pain. Also, many seniors developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease may not remember the abuse or think to tell their loved ones about it.
If you notice that your elderly loved one in a nursing home experiences any new or unexplained physical challenges or injuries, you should contact a Chicago unexplained bruises or cuts or burns lawyer from Pintas & Mullins Law Firm. Call us today for a free case evaluation.
Signs of Physical Abuse
There are many signs of physical abuse. However, some of the most common include unexplained bruises, cuts, or burns on an elderly resident.
Unexplained Bruises
Any form of bruising on the body, including black eyes, are oftentimes an indicator of nursing home abuse or neglect. In some cases, the nursing home staff is inattentive and neglectful in their duties and a resident will attempt to leave a bed, rise from a wheelchair, or attempt to go to the bathroom by themselves and suffer a serious fall.
Nursing home staff employees are responsible for monitoring their residents at all times and ensure that their residents’ basic needs receive attention. Their basic needs include getting in and out of beds and wheelchairs and going to the bathroom. Employees must bathe and clean the residents and ensure that their most basic needs receive care.. If they fail to do so, many residents will attempt to perform these activities themselves, resulting in bruises. If these incidents occur, it rises to the level of negligence and neglect.
However, in other cases, nursing home staff members will physically assault elderly residents, resulting in dark blue or purple markings on the skin which will change to yellow over time. Due to the fragile nature of the elderly’s skin, the transition to yellow can take some time, making it challenging to determine exactly when the abuse occurred. If you notice unexplained bruising on any part of your loved one’s body, you should become concerned that they suffered from some form of elderly abuse or neglect.
Unexplained Cuts
Cuts can occur quite easily through daily activities due to the fragility of an older person’s skin. When nursing home staff members leave their elderly residents unattended and unsupervised, they may attempt to get out of their bed or wheelchair or attempt to use a knife to cut their food. Any cut or laceration that remains unexplained by nursing home staff employees should be a cause for concern, and you should suspect that nursing home abuse or neglect occurred to your elderly loved one. If this is your experience, consider contacting the authorities, as well as a Chicago unexplained bruises or cuts or burns lawyer.
Unexplained Burns
Elderly residents rarely have the opportunity under careful monitoring to burn themselves. Most nursing homes do not allow candles, matches, or other flammable devices for safety reasons. Therefore, if your elderly loved one suffered burns of any kind, you should consider it a sign of nursing home abuse or neglect.
However, elderly residents may also receive friction burns if they must stay in bed all day or are wheelchair-bound. In these instances, the friction between the thinner skin and their clothing or the bedsheets can cause friction leading to something like a rope burn. These cases can turn into a medical condition known as bedsores. If a nursing home fails to identify and monitor a bedsore, it may turn into something more serious including an infection, sepsis, or even cancer. The failure to monitor a nursing home resident who developed a bedsore is oftentimes a clear sign of nursing home neglect.
Other Unexplained Physical Abuse Injuries
Other types of unexplained physical injuries that oftentimes indicate some sort of nursing home abuse, neglect, or elder self-neglect can include:
- Welts.
- Skin tears.
- Broken bones.
- Fractures.
- Dental injuries.
- Head injuries.
- Malnutrition.
- Dehydration.
- Insomnia.
- Sleep issues.
- Chronic pain.
- Gangrene.
If your elderly loved one suffered from any unexplained physical injuries while living as a resident in a nursing home, you should contact either Adult Protective Services or law enforcement as soon as possible.
For a free legal consultation with a Unexplained Bruises or Cuts or Burns Lawyer serving Chicago, call (800) 794-0444
A Chicago Unexplained Bruises or Cuts or Burns Lawyer Can Help
Nursing home residents should never have any unexplained bruises, cuts, or burns. If your elderly loved one suffers from any of these conditions, they may be the victim of elderly abuse or neglect by the nursing home. If you believe your elderly loved one suffered any form of abuse or neglect within a nursing home, contact Pintas & Mullins Law Firm us for a free consultation.
Call or text (800) 794-0444 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
