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Nursing Home Negligence Attorney
in West Palm Beach, Florida
Negligence in the Nursing Home Setting
Nursing Home Injuries - An Overview
Negligence in the Nursing Home Setting
What Your Rights Are as a Resident of a Nursing Home
Special Considerations in Proving Damages in Cases Involving the Elderly
Statutory Protection of Older Persons
Frequently Asked Questions about Nursing Home Injuries
Nursing Home Injuries Resource Links
Nursing Home Injuries Contact Form
Nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable members of our society. They are often elderly, physically frail, and completely dependent on their caretakers. Many residents are unable to report instances of abuse and neglect. Family members can easily overlook signs or misinterpret signs such as bed sores, weight loss due to malnutrition, or slips and falls due to unsafe conditions.
Older people may choose to move into a nursing home or long-term care facility to protect themselves from their own deteriorating health. They assume that they will be well cared for. But sometimes they are not only neglected, but actually harmed physically or psychologically by their new caregivers.
It’s Best to Investigate
Sometimes too, the feelings or statements of the elderly are discounted by younger people, who assume that aging is affecting their social functioning or clarity of mind. Sometimes this might be true, but it should never be the first assumption. If your loved one appears to be trying to tell you about mistreatment or mistakes in his or her care, it would be best to assume there might be something behind it, and to investigate further.
To learn more about nursing home abuse and neglect, please review the general information below and use the links which lead to more information on various topics.
More about legal claims against nursing homes
Rights of a Nursing Home Resident
If you find that your loved one has been harmed in a nursing home, or if you yourself have been harmed, please contact our nursing home negligence attorney to learn more about your legal rights and how to protect them, and about the legal concept of negligence in a nursing home setting.
More on the rights of nursing home residents
Duties of a Nursing Home
A nursing home owner or an employee can be held responsible for any negligence in the care of the nursing home residents. To succeed in bringing such a claim, the injured resident would have to prove:
That the owner or employee failed to meet the duty of care they owed to the resident
That this failure injured the resident
That the owner or employee caused the resident’s injury
If that resident died after receiving negligent care, you would not have to prove he or she would have survived with better care. As long as the owner or employee is shown to have contributed at all to the death, they may be liable for it. If their negligence caused extra pain or suffering for the resident, they could be liable to the resident’s estate.
More on the duties of a nursing home
Proving Damages in Cases That Involve the Elderly
If you file a claim against a nursing home, you will want to show as much as possible about the many types of legal damages that your loved one might have sustained in the nursing home.
1. Reasonable and essential medical costs
2. Past actual costs for things such as doctors, medications, prosthetic devices, nursing or laboratory fees, etc.
3. Expected future expenses
4. Injury caused by prolonged lack of movement (bedsores, for example)
5. Any pain or suffering from physical harm
6. Any pain or suffering reasonably likely in the future
7. Any pain not readily obvious to others, i.e., what is known as phantom pain
8. Mental distress
9. Harm caused by lack of sleep
10. Any past or future loss of the ability to enjoy life
Statutory Protection of the Elderly
It was in the early 1980s that the mistreatment of nursing home residents was brought to the public’s attention. Many instances were exposed and discussed, where older people were being harmed, and some examples are:
Having food, water, or medical care withheld
Being physical hurt
Having their life savings taken by caregivers or family members
As the prevalence of this abuse or neglect became clear, state legislatures began enacting laws to address it.
More on protection of the elderly
Resource Links for Nursing Home Injuries
1. The Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging. Information here on the Older American’s Act, State Ombudsman programs, and many links to other sites on aging.
2. The Alzheimer’s Association. This site is a headquarters for Alzheimer’s information.
3. The American Association of Retired persons (AARP). This is a non-profit organization for the elderly and gives information and many links about current issues. It offers benefits and services for its members.
4. The U.S. Government site for People with Medicare has ratings of nursing homes in every state.
You can learn more on our Questions About Nursing Home Injuries page.
At the Law Offices of Craig Goldenfarb, P.A., we have more than a decade of experience in standing up for the rights of nursing home negligence. If you suspect your loved one is being neglected or abused at a nursing home please contact our South Florida nursing home injury lawyer today for a free initial consultation and case evaluation.
Free Consultation • No Recovery/No Attorney's Fee • Handicapped Accessible
West Palm Beach, Florida, nursing home negligence attorney Craig Goldenfarb represents clients throughout South Florida, including the cities of Palm Springs, Stuart, and Fort Pierce, and residents of Palm Beach County, Martin County, and St. Lucie County. Our office in West Palm Beach, Florida, is located a quarter mile west of I-95 on Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., behind Chick-Fil-A in the IKON Building.
