The decision to place a loved one in a nursing home is always a difficult one. Often family members place their loved one in a nursing home due to necessity. They believe their loved one will receive better care from professionals then from trying to care for them themselves. Unfortunately, that is not always the case here in Arizona.
Many nursing-home staffers are caring, hard-working professionals. But with an increasing elderly population it has led to an increased nursing home population, and with this has come an increased incidence of nursing home negligence and abuse. There are both federal and state governmental agencies which help oversee the care and serviced provided by nursing homes and both federal and state governments have established uniform standards for nursing homes and ensure the protection and safety of patients.
Unfortunately, despite these governmental agencies, over one million nursing home residents are abused in some manner each year either by negligence or active abuse. Nursing home abuse in Arizona can be committed by nursing home staff or workers, including doctors and nurses, and in some instances, another resident may even be the abuser.
Nursing home abuse can include physical damage from falls, malnutrition or dehydration, bed sores, gangrene, aspiration pneumonia, over-sedation, poor medical and physical care and even wrong medication. Just as damaging, but more subtle, are lack of supervision, theft of personal property, abandonment, defective equipment, sexual assault, coercion, and emotional or mental abuse. All of these can lead to injury or death of the nursing home patient.
Most commonly, those who are most affected by elder abuse are the victims’ families. They are normally the first to discover and report the abuse. Unfortunately, these families suffer the most in terms of the financial and emotional abuse. You did your research on the facility or maybe the facility was a referral from a doctor or a neighbor and you never expected that this would happen to your loved one. Know that you are not alone. Whether the abuse consists of recurrent negligence or a single incident which causes injury or death of a loved one, the victim may have a right to damages.
The Law Office of A.J. Mitchell has experience in helping you identify nursing home abuse in Maricopa County. Your loved one deserves to be treated and protected properly. Each case is different but we make sure evidence is preserved, photographs are taken and we obtain witness testimonies and hire experts to help your claim against elder abuse in Arizona.
The information on this website is intended to be informational only and does not establish an attorney/client relationship, nor is it meant to be legal advice for a specific matter.