Long Island Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer

Has your loved one been neglected at the hands of a caregiver in a nursing home or assisted living facility? If so, your loved one has rights.  Siben & Siben can help protect and preserve those rights if you choose to contact them as a Long Island nursing home neglect lawyer.

Nothing is more heart-wrenching than making a decision to live in a nursing home, or having to make that decision for your loved one.  But what makes it worse is that there is such a stigma attached to nursing home facilities, and many people rightly worry that their loved one may be neglected by nursing home staff.  The truth is that there are thousands of unreported cases of neglect in our nation’s nursing homes, and this is largely due to the undertrained and underpaid staff that is providing care – many of them not fully screened prior to employment. Nursing home neglect is never acceptable.  Those residing in a nursing home have the right to competent care.

Types of Nursing Home Neglect Injuries

Older people are often more prone to neglect, especially in an isolated nursing home setting, because they are often unable to speak out against those that are neglecting (or in severe cases, abusing) them.  The most common types of nursing home neglect injuries that warrant a consultation with your Long Island nursing home neglect lawyer include:

• Pressure sores.  Pressure sores or bed sores (also sometimes called decubitus ulcers or pressure ulcers) are a sign of neglect in many instances. In a nursing home setting, patients are often limited in their mobility.  Nursing home staff must “turn” the patient to reposition them and take other measures into consideration to prevent the development of pressure sores.  Bed sores can result from failing to keep the patient clean, such as by not changing soiled bed sheets.

• Dehydration.  Aging residents in a nursing home may have a reduced ability to know when they are thirsty, and many have anxiety about going to the bathroom.  Others may be on medications that contribute to dehydration.  Nursing home staff must monitor the intake and output of fluids that the patients take in so that dehydration can be avoided.

• Malnutrition.  Often, nursing home residents are given inappropriate foods, which can lead to malnutrition.  Another cause of malnutrition in the nursing home is failing to provide assistance to a patient who is unable to feed themselves.  Serious health concerns can arise from malnutrition in the elderly.

• Other forms of neglect in a nursing home can involve carelessness or lack of regard for the safety of nursing home residents that results in falls, burns, choking, unsanitary living conditions, wandering, failing to supervise residents, untreated health problems, failure to administer medications. These can all be considered neglect in the eyes of the court.

Don’t hesitate to contact your Long Island nursing home neglect lawyer and  your local authorities at the Department for Protection if you suspect that your loved one is being neglected at the hands of nursing home staff.  Siben & Siben is standing on the ready to become a champion for your loved one.