Riverside Assisted Living and Nursing Home Injuries (Elder Abuse) Attorney

Assisted living and nursing home residents should always receive the utmost professional care and treatment. There is never any excuse for a lack of professionalism.  Unfortunately, many assisted living and nursing home facilities hire employees who lack the experience necessary to properly care for residents or fail to properly train their staff. Additionally, some facilities will also underpay nursing home staff and force them to work long shifts, prompting staff to provide rushed care.

Assisted living and nursing home staff have a legal responsibility to properly care for the residents. Those living in these facilities already face significant disability or health conditions and when a staff member neglects a resident, or intentionally causes him or her harm, this can seriously threaten the health of the resident.

Dedicated Legal Experience for Sickened or Injured Assisted Living and Nursing Home Facility Residents

When our loved ones age, or suffer a debilitating medical condition, it can be difficult to provide the level of home care they need and deserve. For example, a person who is suffering from either Alzheimer’s disease or dementia may have completely lost the capacity to care for him or herself.  At such times, an assisted living or nursing home facility may be necessary. Sadly, these facilities may not always provide the care a resident deserves. When a resident is neglected, is made ill, suffers injuries or is the victim of abuse in a facility, the at-fault party should be held accountable.

For 40 years, dedicated attorney Gary G. Goldberg has handled some of the most unfortunate nursing home cases. Attorney Goldberg has the resources needed to successfully advocate on behalf of those harmed as a result of assisted living or nursing home negligence. Attorney Goldberg understands that it is always a difficult decision to place a loved one into an assisted living or nursing home facility. When a loved one suffers, it is important to get in contact with an experienced Riverside elder abuse lawyer. Attorney Goldberg will pursue full and fair compensation for any injuries, illness or neglect sustained.

Nursing Home Care

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1.4 million people live in roughly 15,600 nursing homes across the nation, including 1,220 facilities in California alone. In California, over 100,000 people reside in these facilities. With a significant portion of the population aging, the number of residents in care facilities will only increase.

Choosing a care facility is not an easy decision. Families have a right to expect these facilities and their staff members to provide their loved ones with the necessary care they need and deserve. Family members should never have to fear that their loved ones will suffer from preventable harm in these care facilities.

Based on data published by the National Center on Elder Abuse, about 7 percent of nursing home complaints allege abuse or gross neglect. Regrettably, researchers believe that cases of abuse and neglect are drastically underreported.

How to Recognize Abuse

Based on California’s Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, seniors and other eligible dependents have the right to take legal action in situations where they have been abused in an assisted living or nursing home facility. In addition, federal laws provide rights to those who reside in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. In the event that these rights have been violated, and a vulnerable person has been harmed, the facility can be held responsible for the victim’s damages.

Assisted living and nursing home abuse can take many forms, but some of the most common include the following:

1. Neglect – Assisted living or nursing home neglect, commonly called elder abuse, is the failure of a facility to properly attend to the needs of its residents, a problem encountered in all types of elder care facilities. Resident neglect can happen in many different forms, including the failure to provide necessary food and water, allowing the resident to remain in unsanitary conditions that result in illnesses, the failure to provide necessary medical aid and denying the resident’s other essential needs.

Other visual indicators that a person is being neglected in a facility can include: Pressure sores (bedsores) & unnatural bruising; Malnutrition & dehydration; Inadequate supervision; Bad hygiene; Rapid weight loss and Failure to provide medications.

When the negligence of one or more of the staff results in an injury, illness or death, you need to hold the staff accountable for their actions or neglect.

2. Physical Assault – Assisted living and nursing home residents can suffer physical assault at the hands of staff members and even other nursing home residents. Forms of abuse can include the following: Forcibly restraining a resident; Throwing items at a resident; Punching, kicking or pushing the resident and Other acts that cause injuries and harm to the resident. 

3. Sexual Assault – Assisted living and nursing home staff members or other residents can also sexually assault residents. This form of abuse can vary from exposing the resident’s sexual parts, unwanted touching or even rape. Sadly, when residents are not properly supervised, they can also be at risk of sexual assault by other residents.

4. Emotional Abuse – The staff at assisted living facilities and nursing homes sometimes attempt to aggressively exercise their authority over their residents. They can punish their residents through humiliation, insults, threats, name-calling as well as other actions or words that can cause the residents extreme emotional trauma.

Causes of Nursing Home Abuse

In order to take legal action against the facility or staff member, victims and their families need, via an attorney, to demonstrate that the injuries or illness occurred as a result of the wrongdoing and/or negligence of the facility staff. Investigation of fault in neglect and abuses cases can include looking at the following:

1. Insufficiently Trained Staff Members – Assisted living facilities and nursing homes may not be providing their staff members with the proper training and education they need to complete their tasks correctly. Consequently, hired staff can sometimes unintentionally injure residents as a result of their ignorance. For example, helping a resident into or out of bed without adequate support can result in the resident falling, which can result in shattered vertebrae, hip or other bone fractures.

2. Failure of Management to Perform Necessary Background Checks – Nursing homes and assisted living facilities sometimes hire unsafe staff members.  When a facility fails to check a person’s references or does not perform a background check on a new hire, and this individual has past allegations of abuse or a criminal background, the facility may be held accountable for the harm caused by the employee.

3. Insufficient Staffing – Another way these facilities can attempt to cut corners and save money is to avoid hiring sufficient staff. When a facility does this, the residents can suffer the consequences. In understaffed facilities, residents can suffer a lack of proper supervision, rushed care, a lack of care and abuse by pressured staff.

Monetary Compensation is Available for Assisted Living and Nursing Home Injuries

When a person becomes a resident of an assisted living or nursing home, it is because that individual can no longer care for him or herself.  A resident depends on a staff of caring professionals for help on a daily basis.

When your family member is entrusted to the care of an assisted living or nursing home facility, you are entitled to expect that your loved one will receive proper care and will be treated with dignity. No one ever expects to have to contact a Riverside assisted living or nursing home injury attorney for their family member. Yet, if an injury or illness occurs, an attorney experienced in such matters is essential assistance for your loved one.

Incidents in assisted living and nursing homes are challenging to deal with and it is sometimes difficult to determine what actually happened.  If you suspect that a family member has been a victim of assisted living or nursing home abuse contact the Law Office of Gary G. Goldberg, for compassionate help. Attorney Gary G. Goldberg is ready to make sure that the eldercare facility is held responsible for their poor and abusive care. There is no cost to talk to Attorney Goldberg. For a case consultation, consider dialing (951) 788-8325 or filling out the online contact form today.