The Dangers of Using Excessive Force to Handle a Nursing Home Resident

When your loved one needs around the clock medical care and attention, a nursing home may be the option that allows your loved one to live in a safe environment where they can get the professional care they need. However, your loved one may not be getting the treatment they deserve.

When negligent nursing homes have staff that use excessive force, your loved one’s health can deteriorate. A nursing home abuse lawyer from Corban Gunn, Attorney at Law can help you get justice for your loved one.

Excessive Force Can Harm Your Loved One

Nursing home residents may need assistance with walking, getting dressed, taking care of their hygiene, and using the bathroom. They may also require assistance with eating and hydrating. The staff members should be there to help the resident so they can maintain a high quality of life. When the staff member isn’t careful, they can harm your loved one. Let’s look into the dangers of using excessive force to handle a nursing home resident.

Examples of excessive force can include pushing, shoving, gripping too tightly, and using physical force to restrain a resident. In some cases, abusive staff members may be aware they’re harming your loved one or they may not have the training required to properly handle a patient and they inappropriately use physical force.

This can put your loved one’s health in danger. Possible physical injuries include welts, bruising, and broken bones. If your loved one is shoved and they lose their balance, they could suffer a detrimental head injury or fracture a hip. These injuries can put your loved one’s life at risk and treatment typically results in staying at the hospital for a long time.

Your loved one may not communicate that abuse is occurring. This could be for a couple of reasons. In some cases, your loved one may not be able to do so. If they have dementia or another form of memory loss, remembering the event and speaking about it can be difficult. If your loved one does remember, they may be ashamed or they don’t speak up because they’re afraid of retaliation. This is why it’s essential to know the signs of excessive force.

Signs of Excessive Force

If you’ve looking for signs of physical abuse, you can see injuries like bruises, cuts, skin discoloration, and splints or casts if your loved one had a fracture or broken bone. Any time your loved one suffers a serious injury, the family should be notified. If you weren’t notified and no one has a straight answer for how the injury occurred, you need to recognize these red flags and take further action. Filing a complaint about the nursing home could be a strong start to protecting your loved one’s health. If you believe your loved one is in immediate danger, contact the police so your loved one can get to a safe environment.

There may be other signs that your loved one is dealing with abuse. If your loved one has minor injuries on a consistent basis but there always seems to be an explanation, you may just think these injuries were accidents and unpreventable. However, noticing the following could indicate abuse is occurring:

• Tension between your loved one and staff member or members
• Change in demeanor
• Appetite loss

You should also note that while an occasional minor bump or bruise can happen, injuries that occur regularly are not normal. Whether it’s from an abusive nursing staff member or staff negligence that didn’t have the resources to implement preventative measures to protect your loved one’s health, there is no excuse for regular injuries.

Realizing your loved one has been abused can be a terrifying experience. You may be your loved one’s best advocate, even if you may not know what to do next. After finding out your loved one’s health has been put in jeopardy because of nursing home abuse, contacting an experienced attorney who will fight for your loved one’s rights.

Get the Help You Need Today

If your loved one was harmed in a nursing home in Mississippi, we can help you hold those responsible for your loved one’s injuries accountable for their negligence. We’ll fight for your loved one to receive compensation that will help them recover from their injuries. With this financial security, you can focus on helping your loved one regain their health.

Our law office is located in Biloxi, but we serve citizens statewide. To get started on your case, give our office a call today for a free case evaluation. We can go over what happened, how your loved one was injured, and discuss how we can proceed. We’ll explain your options and find what would be in your loved one’s best interests. Corban Gunn, Attorney at Law can help you and your loved one move forward.