Nursing Home Abuse Cases and National Rankings

A recent news story reported on a situation regarding some disturbing footage of abuse within a Texas nursing home. The video shows several residents being thrown or otherwise handled roughly while nursing home employees are engaged in “caretaking.”

The station also showed pictures sent in by a viewer of the woman’s aunt, depicting very large and mysterious bruises on her arms. In that case, after filing a complaint the caretaker was fired.

A former nursing home employee who witnessed many cases of abuse or neglect where she used to work recommends checking on your loved one daily. That way the staff will be less likely to neglect your family member, as they are constantly being checked on, so to speak.

Families for Better Care, a Florida-based nursing home resident advocacy group, published the first-ever state-by-state nursing home report card this month.

Among the report’s key findings,

Nearly 90% of all nursing homes were cited for at least one deficiency

In almost half of the states, approximately 1 in 5 nursing homes abused, neglected, or mistreated residents

Washington, D.C. was cited as the worst state for percentage of facilities with deficiencies, since it reportedly had zero deficiency-free inspections

In terms of the “Nursing Home Report Card” aspect of the results and state rankings for the Maryland area, the data was as follows:

Virginia (33) and Maryland (34) both received a grade of D

West Virginia (27) and Washington D.C. (29) both received a grade of C

What all of the foregoing demonstrates, is that nursing home abuse and neglect is quite common. However, that of course does not make it acceptable. Most commonly, legal claims against nursing homes fall into one of three categories: abuse, neglect, or medical malpractice. The federal definition of nursing home abuse is, “the willful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment with resulting physical harm, pain or mental anguish.”

Neglect, on the other hand, is the result of inaction or indifference, and is a consequence of negligence on the part of an individual or an organization. The standard for demonstrating negligence is whether the individual acted in accordance with what a reasonable caregiver would have done in the situation.

If you suspect that an elderly friend or relative living in a nursing home or assisted living facility within the Maryland or the Washington D.C. areas might be suffering from nursing home neglect or abuse, contact the experienced nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers immediately. Oftentimes suspicion of abuse is indicative of a larger, in some cases systemwide, problem within the facility. Our law firm has many years of experience advocating on behalf of victims who have suffered as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect within nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Contact us today in order to schedule your complimentary and confidential initial consultation, and let us tell you how we can help. You can reach us by calling (800) 654-1949 or contact us through our website.