Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Attorney Serving Tampa, St Petersburg, Sarasota, Brandon, New Tampa & The Entire State of Florida
The majority of nursing homes and assisted living facilities offer a necessary and valuable service to society by providing our senior citizens with a comfortable and safe environment to spend their twilight years. Nursing homes can provide elder citizens with access to healthcare monitoring and frequent social interactions with peers- things that are often missing when seniors live alone. But as the Baby-Boomer generation continues to reach retirement age, and more Floridians are looking to these types of facilities as housing and caretaking solutions, there are a growing number of reports of abuse and neglect in nursing homes across the state.
The increasing number of new retirees is at least partially attributable to this alarming trend, say experts, and is resulting in over worked, over stressed, and under trained nursing home staff members. Many nursing homes are not meeting the recommended minimum staffing level for nurse’s aides, registered nurses, and total staff. Neglect and abuse of nursing home residents can occur in a variety of ways, both physical and emotional.
Facilities that are under-staffed or have staff members that are under-trained often have higher instances of abuse and neglect. The first step is recognizing what constitutes abuse or neglect of the elderly. While the neglect of the elderly does not seem as sever as physical or mental abuse, it is a serious problem and occurs far more often. Neglect is described as the caretaker’s failure to perform the degree of care that is expected from a person in their care-taking position. Nursing home residents can experience neglect in the form of malnutrition, dehydration, medication administration errors, slip and falls, and overall poor personal hygiene. More serious forms of abuse include improper physical contact like hitting, pushing, sexual assault, and improperly restraining. Physical signs of abuse may be evidenced by unexplained injuries, wounds, cuts, bruises, or broken bones. Emotional and mental abuse can occur where residents are verbally threatened, isolated from their friends or family, manipulated into signing wills, or other legal documents.
If you or someone you know thinks they have suffered an injury due to abuse or neglect at the hands of a nursing home or its staff, you may be able to collect damages or help a loved one collect damages. Regardless if youre in Tampa, St Petersburg, Brandon, Sarasota, New Tampa or anywhere else in the State of Florida contact the offices of Yesner & Boss, P.L. today to find out exactly how a Tampa injury attorney can assist you in evaluating your case..
