Posted on December 27, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home residents often depend on their caregivers for help with every aspect of their life. When nursing home staff are negligent, careless, or overworked, nursing home residents can suffer. Families who put their trust in a nursing home may be shocked to discover how poorly their loved one is treated, or, worse, find out about negligent treatment when the consequences have already been serious or even fatal. 

One of the most common types of injuries caused by nursing home negligence is severe burns. Even small activities like drinking from a too-hot cup of soup can cause an elderly body serious injury; this is all the more true with major daily activities like showering in water that is too hot. If you are concerned that nursing home negligence led to your loved one getting burned in their nursing home, read on. 

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 Posted on December 16, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

Residents of nursing home facilities live there because they are unable to properly care for themselves. Physical illness, Alzheimer’s disease, and other age-related health problems make residents particularly vulnerable and dependent on the nursing home for many things – food, personal cleanliness, emotional security, and physical safety.

Not all accidents or injuries are preventable, but when injuries occur, nursing homes are responsible for treating wounds and keeping them clean. Without an appropriate standard of care, wounds can fail to heal and even get worse. In the worst cases, nursing home neglect can cause improperly treated wounds that can lead to local infections, the onset of sepsis, and even fatalities. 

Common Wounds Seen in Nursing Home Residents

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 Posted on December 13, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

Few people want to think about themselves or anyone else suffering from a fractured or broken bone, but they are common injuries that result from daily living. For most people, communicating the pain of a bone injury is easy to do because such an injury is difficult to mistake for anything else. 

Some bone fractures, however, do not necessarily have outward indicators that would let an observer immediately know that something is wrong. This can be especially hazardous to an elderly nursing home resident who may struggle to communicate that they are in pain. Nursing home staff and managers have a responsibility to ensure that any bone fractures are quickly diagnosed and treated, but they may fail to do so for many reasons. If your loved one is in a nursing home and you fear they may have suffered from abuse or neglect due to a failure to diagnose a bone fracture, read on. 

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 Posted on December 09, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

The decision to place a loved one in a nursing home is never easy. Most people wish that they did not have to move their elderly or disabled loved one out of their home and into a long-term care facility, but they often do not have another choice. Nursing homes are filled with residents who need more extensive medical care and help with daily living tasks than a family member could handle on their own.

Many nursing home residents are quite frail, and when nursing home staff do not properly care for the residents or meet their medical needs, the results can be deadly. If your loved one passed away while staying in a nursing home and you believe the death was due to negligence or abuse, do not hesitate to contact a qualified nursing home abuse injury lawyer for help.

What is the Definition of a Wrongful Death?

Because many nursing home residents are elderly or in poor health when they arrive at the facility, it is not surprising that many residents pass away while staying in the facility. Consequently, it can sometimes be difficult to know if a loved one’s death was preventable or not. The term “wrongful death” refers to deaths that happen as a result of the negligent or intentionally harmful acts of another. The Wrongful Death Act in the Illinois Complied Statutes technically defines a wrongful death as a death resulting from “a wrongful act, neglect or default.” This means that a nursing home staff member’s action or inaction may be to blame for the death of a resident. Other times, it is the nursing home facility itself that is the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit.

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 Posted on December 03, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

People in nursing homes are there because they need an enhanced level of assistance and care. When someone decides to live in a nursing home, or is moved there with the help of their family or friends, the nursing home is responsible for providing a legal standard of daily care. 

But what happens if, rather than caring for you or your loved one, the nursing home stops providing the care and instead threatens eviction? Eviction is threatening, frightening, and may even be wrongful. If you fear you or your loved one are facing wrongful eviction from a nursing home, read on. 

When is Eviction From a Nursing Home Considered Wrongful? 

Although nursing homes must provide residents with a high standard of care, some situations make it impossible for them to do so. If a resident cannot pay for their care, develops conditions that the nursing home is not capable of caring for safely, or no longer needs the kind of specialized care a nursing home provides, a nursing home may ask a resident to leave. 

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 Posted on November 15, 2021 in Neglect

In addition to providing the health, nutrition, and daily schedule for nursing home residents, nursing home staff are also responsible for providing adequate security and supervision. Nursing home residents are particularly vulnerable to crime because their physical frailty and decreased mental faculties can make them such easy targets. 

Additionally, security and supervision are essential when nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia are at risk from wandering within or away from facilities. If nursing home residents do not take reasonable measures to prevent this behavior, residents can be injured, abused, lost, taken advantage of, or even killed. Proper security and supervision are intertwined in Illinois nursing homes, and the lack of one may signal the lack of the other. 

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 Posted on November 12, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

Although it is difficult to countenance anyone taking advantage of a vulnerable senior citizen, elder abuse happens every day in Illinois nursing homes. Nursing home staff or other occupants may take advantage of a senior resident’s imperfect mental health or memory to steal money from them or manipulate them into spending money in a way that seems, at least superficially, to be voluntary. 

The financial abuse of nursing home residents has long-term consequences for the well-being of the victims. Years of hard work and savings can be decimated by the behavior of one unscrupulous individual. If you believe that your loved one has been victimized by financial abuse in a nursing home or residential care facility, a qualified Illinois nursing home abuse attorney may be able to help you hold the perpetrator or the facility responsible. 

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 Posted on November 02, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

Despite promising research in disease treatment and prevention, Alzheimer’s disease continues to be a major cause of illness and death in America. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia, and dementia kills more people than breast and prostate cancer combined. 

It is perhaps no wonder that with such a serious disease present in such large numbers, seniors who suffer from Alzheimer’s face a higher likelihood of being abused or neglected in their nursing homes or residential care facilities. Because victims of Alzheimer’s are often confused or disconnected in their thinking, it can be very difficult to ascertain the nature or perpetrator of abuse, even when Alzheimer’s patient abuse is clearly taking place. 

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 Posted on October 27, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

For most of us, there is nothing more horrific than someone taking advantage of an elderly person in their care - especially if that person is someone we love, like a parent or grandparent. Unfortunately, nursing home abuse takes place every day in residential care facilities in Illinois. 

Sexual abuse of elderly nursing home residents is one of the most pernicious and damaging types of abuse, and it is important to hold abusers accountable. Although nursing home residents and their families have a right to expect safe and standardized care, when nursing home staff either perpetrate abuse or fail to prevent it, an experienced attorney can help family members seek justice and prevent such abuse from happening again. 

What is Sexual Abuse of Elderly Nursing Home Residents? 

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 Posted on October 22, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

The death of a loved one is one of the most difficult experiences we can ever have. This is especially true if the death was preventable. Unfortunately, in many nursing homes, the standard of care for residents is such that neglect, understaffing, or elder abuse leads to the wrongful death of a resident. 

In this blog, we will review some of the more common wrongful deaths that take place in residential care centers. If you have been affected by a wrongful death of a loved one in a nursing home, you may be able to sue the facility for financial damages. Although a lawsuit cannot undo your loss, it may prevent such tragedies from happening in the future. 

What are Examples of Wrongful Death in Nursing Homes? 

Certain kinds of wrongful death are, unfortunately, more common than others. Examples of nursing home staff behaviors that can have fatal consequences include: 

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