Nursing Home Abuse

Neglect

Neglect is the result of someone failing to fulfill their duties of providing care. Examples could include withholding food and water or refusing to maintain the patient’s personal hygiene. Common signs of neglect are:

• Malnutrition
• Bedsores
• Unclean living conditions
• Untreated medical issues
• Dehydration
• Appearing lonely or depressed

Financial Exploitation

Financial exploitation refers to the illegal or improper use of another person’s property, money, or assets. Perpetrators typically forge the victim’s names on documents, use credit cards without authorization, and withdraw cash from the ATM. Common signs of financial exploitation are:

• Additional names on a bank account or credit card
• Unusual withdrawals from an account or ATM
• Transfer of assets to an unfamiliar person
• Missing cash, property, and other personal possessions
• Unexplained and sudden changes to a power of attorney, will, or another legal document
• Financial decisions that don’t include adequate documentation

Common Causes of Nursing Home Abuse

There are federal and state laws to protect nursing home resident’s rights and protect them from injury. However, many employees abuse their power and take advantage of their patients, especially those with physical limitations, mental deficits, and severe medical conditions.

Nursing home abuse in Newport Beach typically occurs because of the following reasons:

Inexperience

When nurses do not have adequate experience in providing care, they could administer the wrong medication or fail to turn an immobile patient to prevent bedsores. Facilities will hire unqualified employees if they can’t find enough candidates or don’t want to spend the time looking for experienced staff.

Understaffing

Nurses who have to care for more patients than they can handle because there aren’t enough employees might take out their frustration on the residents.

Inadequate supervision

If there isn’t anyone supervising what the employees do, they can get away with treating their patients how they see fit and ignore necessary protocols. Additionally, if there are problems, they usually go unreported.

Poor wages

A toxic environment is common in facilities where staff don’t make fair or adequate wages. They might feel like they aren’t appreciated for the hard work they do. If they no longer care about their performance, they could neglect their patients or abuse those who cannot defend themselves.

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