Cincinnati Nursing Home Abuse And Neglect Lawyers

Making the decision to move a loved one into a nursing home is often a difficult and emotional one. Selecting a nursing home usually involves placing a certain amount of trust in the institution. You are counting on the staff and management to look out for the welfare of your loved one. When this trust is violated due to nursing home abuse or neglect, it is critical that you seek out an attorney who can advise you of your rights and remedies.

Nursing home abuse and neglect is a sensitive issue that requires a compassionate attorney. At Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima, our Ohio personal injury lawyers will look out for your family’s needs as well as the loved ones in the nursing home. We believe that it is our job not only to hold the nursing home responsible for the injuries it has caused its residents but also to make sure it does not happen again.

Types Of Nursing Home Abuse Claims We Handle

The Cincinnati nursing home neglect lawyers in our firm can assist you in any type of nursing home abuse and neglect claim involving issues such as:

• Dehydration
• Malnutrition
• Medication errors
• Insufficient medical care
• Bedsores
• Peg tube infections, improper use
• Physical and sexual abuse
• Asphyxiation
• Failure to monitor residents, resulting in falls and patients wandering away

We know that it is important not only to recover compensation for injuries your loved ones have sustained due to nursing home abuse and neglect but also to help them restore their dignity by holding the negligent parties responsible for their actions and making sure corrective action is taken. Although it is difficult to prove a nursing home injury case, we are here to help you give a voice to the victims who cannot speak for themselves. Our lawyers are here to help you seek justice.

Common Signs Of Nursing Home Abuse

Unfortunately, many victims of abuse or neglect from nursing home staff are too frail, ill or afraid to confront their abusers or reveal what is going on to their families. It may be up to you to spot signs of possible physical, sexual, emotional and/or financial abuse. These warning signs can include:

• Injuries, such as broken bones and bruises, that do not have a clear explanation
• Sudden changes in the resident’s behavior
• The resident withdrawing from social activities or the staff preventing the family from seeing the resident
• The resident testing positive for a sexually transmitted disease or trauma in the genitals
• Poor personal hygiene or dirty living quarters
• Dehydration or malnutrition
• Medication errors
• Bedsores on the skin
• Soiled clothing or bedding
• “Gifts” to staff members that seem overly generous or unusual
• Inability to explain suspicious transactions

What To Do If There Are Signs Of Abuse

If you believe an elderly loved one is being abused by the staff of the nursing home he or she lives in, or by another resident, one of the first things you should do is hire an experienced elder abuse attorney.

You need to act quickly when you see red flags for nursing home abuse situations because potential evidence might be destroyed. Additionally, things can be easily forgotten by elderly individuals, including by those who witnessed or committed the abuse. In many instances, the allegedly abusive employee or staff member may be transferred, fired or left before their statement can be taken.

Our attorneys can issue subpoenas for employee disciplinary records, request information about the facility and speak with residents and staff to investigate your family member’s injury. We can also obtain information by way of consent. If you execute a health care power of attorney, we can get all medical records and charting nurse notes of alleged incidents, which are essential in all nursing home cases. Our nursing home negligence lawyers can also serve as intermediaries between a loved one’s family and the insurance carriers and companies that are looking to protect their money and reputation.

Holding Negligent Nursing Homes Accountable

Often, nursing homes are understaffed and residents do not receive the attention or care required. When the nursing home fails to follow a care plan it can result in many of the above-mentioned injuries, as well as residents not being properly fed or bathed. Since staff may be inadequate to attend to all the needs of the residents, elder neglect by staff may occur. Sadly, this includes failure to change bedding after an accident and other preventable discomforts.

Additionally, not all employees are trained to handle residents who have become disoriented or have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. They may also not know how to properly lift a patient from a wheelchair to a bed or strap them in sufficiently when they are being transferred off the grounds of a facility.

Many patients are required to be treated and seen regularly by a doctor. The staff doctor may not spend time with the actual patient, instead opting to merely review his or her chart. This can result in improper medication being administered or care being prescribed. Our attorneys also handle these instances of medical malpractice, which may be a component of your nursing home abuse and neglect case.

Talk To A Cincinnati Personal Injury Lawyer

If you think a loved one has suffered an injury from nursing home abuse or neglect, contact our office immediately to schedule a consultation with one of our Ohio nursing home abuse attorneys. Call 513-496-0134 or use our online contact form to schedule a consultation and let us fight for you. We represent injured people in Butler, Warren and Hamilton counties and the surrounding parts of southwest Ohio and have offices in Lebanon, Cincinnati and West Chester.