Noblesville, IN Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

Nursing home abuse feels like a betrayal on various levels. Not only do victims feel the consequences of abuse, but so do their family members who trusted the facility to care for them.

How a facility operates could increase the risk of nursing home abuse occurring in Noblesville. Staffing shortages, poor hiring practices, and insufficient oversight within a facility could endanger residents. Furthermore, certain resident characteristics might increase the risk of abuse, like memory issues and socioeconomic status. In their response to nursing home abuse, victims and their families should inform the facility and start gathering any documentation of the abuse. In the following days, weeks, and months, our lawyers can help victims track all of the victim’s damages from abuse and bring a claim against the liable party or parties within the appropriate timeframe.

Call Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166 to get a free case review with our Noblesville, IN, nursing home abuse lawyers.

Risk Factors for Nursing Home Abuse in Noblesville, IN

You can look toward facility and resident characteristics to gauge the risk of nursing home abuse taking place in Noblesville. For example, facilities with staffing issues might not provide sufficient oversight to stop abuse from happening, and residents with cognitive issues might be bigger targets for abuse.

Facility Characteristics

A facility’s specific characteristics and procedures might put residents at a higher risk of abuse in Noblesville. For example, if a nursing home is understaffed, there might be insufficient oversight to ensure staff treats residents properly. Furthermore, if a nursing home urgently needs more people on its staff, it might hire individuals who are unqualified or more likely to engage in abusive behavior, endangering residents.

Moreover, failure to properly train staff after hiring them or ensure the facility itself is reasonably safe for residents could increase the risk of abuse or accidents taking place.

Resident Characteristics

Certain characteristics might make residents more likely victims of nursing home abuse. For example, residents with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or other issues that impair cognition are often at a higher risk of abuse. Such victims often rely on their families to identify abuse, as they might have difficulty reporting it in Noblesville.

Furthermore, a member of staff might victimize a resident because of their socioeconomic status. Financial exploitation is one of the more common forms of nursing home abuse, behind physical abuse and neglect.

Other risk factors for abuse include isolation from family or friends outside of the facility and physical limitations.

Although some seniors might be at a higher risk for abuse, that does not mean others are immune. Take all signs or indications of abuse seriously, especially if a senior has unexplainable injuries, has become withdrawn, or has experienced a substantial decline in health.

Responding to Nursing Home Abuse in Noblesville, IN

When responding to abuse, survivors and families should take several steps. These include moving the victim to a safe facility, getting the victim medical care, reporting the abuse, and documenting the victim’s damages.

Protect the Victim

The first step is to ensure the victim’s safety. To do this, families typically remove residents from negligent or abusive nursing homes. Once the victim is safe, we can report the abuse and preserve any relevant evidence or documentation.

Gross neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse might seriously injure a victim. Furthermore, proof of the victim’s injuries might be necessary to show the severity of the abuse. Because of this, families of survivors should urge them to get medical attention to document their abuse and obtain any necessary treatment. Abuse of any kind might cause seniors’ health to decline or pre-existing conditions to worsen, so getting medical attention is crucial.

Document the Abuse

If family members have any notes from visits, photographs of the victim’s visible injuries, or any other noteworthy documentation, they should give that information to our nursing home abuse lawyers. This can help when building a case against the nursing home or the individual abuser.

Report the Abuse

We can help victims and their families report abuse to negligent nursing home facilities. Making written reports is important for several reasons, one being that the nursing home can learn about an issue and address it promptly for other residents’ safety. If you have reported the abuse in the past, doing so again might be necessary. Make copies of all reports and ensure consistency throughout them.

Document the Victim’s Damages

Because of nursing home abuse, a victim might have to change facilities, get extensive medical care, and ultimately suffer extreme psychological distress. These damages, as well as other losses, are recoverable, provided you can prove they exist. Because of this, our attorneys will start documenting a victim’s damages immediately, which might require us to look at the victim’s previous medical records or other information.

Seniors in nursing homes might rely on their children or other family members to manage their financial and medical information. This is one of the many reasons why having the support of one’s family is so important when seeking compensation for nursing home abuse. For example, medical information might help us trace abuse to when it started. If a victim experienced financial abuse, their banking information might show large withdrawals or other strange behavior.

Bring the Claim

Victimized seniors can file claims against negligent nursing homes and abusive staff members in Noblesville. However, bringing a case too late could cause serious issues. For example, victims who try to file outside the statute of limitations could be barred from recovery.

That said, you should not bring your case too hastily. Proving nursing home abuse can be challenging, as there might not be many reports of abuse or additional evidence outside of witness statements and a victim’s medical records. Bringing a claim without the proper preparation is inadvisable, which is why our lawyers will only do so after we are confident in your case.

Call Our Noblesville, IN Lawyers About Your Case Now

Call (219) 322-1166, and Wruck Paupore’s nursing home abuse lawyers can give you a free case assessment today.