If you or someone you love was a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect in Spring Hill or elsewhere in Florida, you likely have a myriad of concerns. Frequently asked questions include:
- How do I make sure this does not happen to anyone else?
- Can I hold them accountable for what they have done?
- Can I move my loved one to a different nursing home?
A nursing home abuse lawyer in Spring Hill from Distasio Law Firm can answer all these questions for you, and we can hold negligent facilities accountable for their abuse and neglect.
With over 25 years of experience in personal injury law, we can send a message to negligent care homes that poor treatment of elderly residents will not be accepted. To learn more, give us a call to speak to a personal injury lawyer in Spring Hill.
The Distasio Law Firm Difference
How do you find the best Spring Hill nursing home abuse attorney? What should you be looking for? Here’s a list:
- Knowledge and Experience Handling Nursing Home Abuse Cases: Your lawyer should not only know Florida nursing home law. That lawyer should also have years of experience handling abuse and neglect cases. Scott Distasio has been handling nursing home abuse cases for over 28 years.
- Independent Verification of the Lawyer‘s Ability: Scott Distasio has an “AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. This is the highest rating an attorney can receive for both ability and ethics. Scott Distasio is also Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Trial Law, a distinction held by fewer than 1% of all Florida lawyers.
- Willingness and Ability to Go to Trial: Not all nursing home neglect cases go to trial. The truth is most cases settle. But if your case does need to go to trial, it’s important to hire a law firm that has the experience, resources, and ability to try your case. Scott Distasio is a board-certified civil trial lawyer. This gives him the right to call himself an expert trial lawyer.
For a free legal consultation with a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer serving Spring Hill, call (813) 259 0022
What is Nursing Home Abuse?
According to Florida statute 415.102(1), abuse is defined as “any willful act by a caregiver which causes or is likely to cause significant impairment to a vulnerable adult’s physical, mental, or emotional health.” This abuse includes both acts and omissions.
Florida nursing homes and assisted living facilities engage in elder abuse in many ways, both overt and subtle. Examples include purposely under-staffing facilities in order to increase profits or being verbally or physically abusive to nursing home residents. Other examples of physical abuse and emotional abuse include:
- Hitting uncooperative residents
- Twisting residents’ limbs when re-positioning them
- Yelling at residents
- Teasing and/or calling residents names
- Sexual abuse and financial abuse
An experienced nursing home abuse lawyer in Spring Hill will gather evidence and use it to hold perpetrators accountable.
Spring Hill Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Near Me (813) 259 0022
What Is Nursing Home Neglect?
According to Florida statute 415.102(16) neglect is defined as “the failure or omission on the part of a caregiver to provide the care, supervision, and services necessary to maintain the physical and mental health of a vulnerable adult, including, but not limited to food, clothing, medicine, shelter, supervision, and medical services, which a prudent person would consider essential for the well being of a vulnerable adult.”
The most common forms of nursing home neglect are compassion fatigue or becoming so accustomed to a situation that you lose the ability to care for those involved. It manifests in the following signs:
- Failure to help with hygiene
- Failure to supervise residents who are at risk of falling
- Failure to change bedding
- Failure to change clothes
- Failure to feed the person
- Failure to hydrate the person
- Allowing incontinent residents to lie in their waste
Some examples of medical neglect may include:
- Failing to provide proper medical attention
- Failing to provide prescription medication
- Over-medicating a person
- Under-medicating a person
- Failure to diagnose symptoms
- Failure to treat evident symptoms
- Failing to send a resident to the hospital when symptoms warrant it
A Spring Hill nursing home neglect attorney can’t change the past. But by holding wrongdoers accountable with a lawsuit, we can help deter this type of conduct in the future. If you think your loved one has been the victim of neglect in a nursing home in Spring Hill, give us a call today.
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Staffing Issues Can Cause Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
While many nursing homes throughout the state of Florida provide great care to residents, others put profits above compassion. This is often seen in the way nursing homes staff their facilities.
There are two ways that nursing homes understaff. The first way is by purposely not hiring enough staff to meet the needs of residents. With fewer staff on each shift, less time is available to care for the residents. Residents with a large number of needs get the least amount of help, if they get any assistance at all.
The second way care facilities reduce staff costs is by hiring underqualified employees. They, of course, cost less than the qualified ones. These facilities hire nursing assistants to do the job of registered nurses. These employees are not trained to meet the demands of an elderly population and often become abusive as a result.
Special Issues for Skilled Nursing Facilities
Skilled facilities provide care for those with severe injuries or who require constant care and monitoring. Skilled facilities have an even higher standard of care and should only staff trained medical professionals. When these facilities shirk their duties, it can result in severe injuries and wrongful death.
We can intervene in cases involving injuries to elderly residents in skilled care facilities. We can work with medical experts to determine whether involved staff demonstrated the appropriate standard of care.
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Types of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
Unfortunately, there are many types of nursing facility abuse and neglect. The most common include:
- Bed Rail Entrapment
- Choking
- Combative Residents
- Dehydration
- Dropped Patients Hoyer Lift
- Elopement and Wandering
- Feeding Tube Neglect
- Fractures
- Impacted Bowels
- Insect Bites
- Malnutrition
- Medication Errors
- Poor Hygiene
- Pressure Sores
- Restraints
- Sepsis
- Sexual Assault
- Slip and Falls
- Smoking Accidents
- Ventilator Neglect
Identifying Abuse and Neglect
Elder abuse and elder neglect can be subtle. It requires focused observation to help your loved one. Look for these signs of abuse:
- Unexplained bruises
- Sudden changes in personality
- Fear of a caregiver
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Fainting, tiredness, or other symptoms of malnutrition
- Unclean environment
- Excessive restraints
- Recurring injuries
- Injuries that cannot be easily explained
- The caregiver will not let you be alone with your loved one
- Withdrawal or depression
- Strange financial transactions
Finding the Right Facility
The best way to prevent your loved one from being the victim of nursing abuse and nursing home neglect is to investigate before you place your loved one. When you’re researching facilities, these are things you should look for:
- Does the nursing home appear to be clean?
- Are the nursing home staff knowledgeable and friendly?
- Are residents engaged in activities or are they just sitting around with nothing to do?
- Does the nursing home have video monitoring in the halls and patients’ rooms(video monitoring assures that nursing home residents will be watched and others will be watched while interacting with the residents, which could prevent possible abuse)?
- Does the nursing facility have medical directors and physicians who supervise medical staff and the medical procedures residents receive?
- Does the home have licensed nurses and/or CNA’s on staff?
- Does the nursing home employ enough staff to sufficiently provide for the care, treatment, and supervision of every patient?
- Are the physicians, supervisors, and administrators accessible and willing to address concerns?
- Have incidents of abuse or neglect occurred in the past, and how were they handled?
Taking time now to research a facility prior to the placement of an elderly or impaired loved one may save a ton of heartache and protect their well-being.
Looking for a Spring Hill Nursing Home Abuse Attorney? Call Distasio Law Firm Today
Talk to our team at Distasio Law Firm if you have been injured by the negligence of another. We understand how complex these cases can be and will do everything in our power to ensure that you and your loved ones receive justice. We offer a free case evaluation so that you can tell us the details of your case quickly and easily.
You should not have to deal with this difficult situation on your own, so please do not hesitate to call our office to learn how we could help you. Contact Distasio Law Firm today to schedule an appointment with a nursing home abuse lawyer in Spring Hill.
Call or text (813) 259 0022 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form