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Teal & Montgomery
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Abuse of any kind is unacceptable and disturbing, whether it is child abuse, spousal abuse or elder abuse. Elder abuse, especially within skilled nursing facilities is particularly unsettling. When grown adults who have lived respectable lives and now are unable to fully care for themselves are degraded, neglected, or attacked, those responsible should be held accountable for their actions.

If your loved one has been hurt, abused, attacked or neglected in a nursing home setting in Sacramento, California, please contact the Nursing Home Negligence Attorneys at Teal and Montgomery. Call 916-448-1010 for answers to your questions and to make a plan.

Nursing Home Standards of Care

As a family member of a nursing home resident in Sacramento, Santa Rosa or elsewhere, you have a right to expect the facility you chose to meet accepted standards of care. Standards of care you should be able to expect from a skilled nursing facility are:

  • Provision of safe and reasonably comfort living space
  • Accommodation of needs
  • Adequate staffing
  • Care planning
  • Assistance with continence and using the toilet
  • Use of feeding tubes only when necessary
  • Provision of nourishment and hydration
  • Controlling and preventing infections
  • Appropriating medications
  • Assistance with hygiene and personal care
  • Providing physician care
  • Preventing and treating pressure sores (bed sores)
  • Preventing accidents
  • Providing special services such as therapy or other specialized medical care

Signs of Nursing Home Negligence

How do you know if your loved one’s needs are being neglected while he or she resides in a nursing home? What are signs you should watch for? Take note if you notice or suspect any of the following:

  • Bedsores, pressure sores or decubitus ulcers are frequent among nursing home residents and are nearly always preventable and result from caregivers’ failure to turn a resident often enough.
  • Dehydration is also common among the elderly, who do not always perceive their own thirst and may need to be reminded to drink enough fluid to remain hydrated.
  • Malnourishment may happen because the resident needed assistance to eat well and did not receive that help from the staff at the nursing home.
  • Unexplained bruises or other visible signs reveal assault or fall injuries due to lack of sufficient monitoring by care attendants.
  • Wandering off is a hazard to anticipate when patients suffer from Alzheimer’s or any type of dementia.

If you or your close family member has suffered the unfortunate harmful effects of inadequate care in a long-term care facility, talk to one of our Sacramento nursing home negligence attorneys at Teal & Montgomery.

What will happen if I report the abuse?

If you report elder abuse or nursing home negligence, a detailed investigation into the causes of a nursing home injury or suspicious death will be conducted. These kinds of investigations usually reveal an underlying problem, such as under-staffing, and may not uncover outright abuse or intentional negligence by a particular caregiver. It’s important for you to have a detailed account of any signs of abuse you have notices, which may include evidence and a written statement from witnesses or your loved ones. After you bring your concerns to the attention of those in charge of the nursing home, contact an experienced nursing home negligence attorney to discuss your situation and find out if more should be done.

Underlying Problems

Although there are horrific reports of outright neglect, verbal and sexual abuse to the elderly in some nursing home facilities, this is not always the case. Sometimes the underlying problem of neglect is a result of poor business practices. Nursing home attendants are often compensated quite modestly and usually seek to do their jobs well, but a drive for profit can lead nursing home directors to try to trim the budget by cutting the number of caregivers. When the institution’s profit takes precedence over the wellbeing of the residents, this can result in injury or illness. If this is the case for you, we encourage you to talk to a California elder abuse attorney about the alleged wrongdoing and resulting harm.

Contact A California Abuse Attorney

We welcome you to contact us or call 916-448-1010 to schedule a free initial consultation at your convenience.