Articles Posted in Nursing Home Abuse & Negligence

We recently reported on nursing home abuse and negligence. It’s a difficult subject. Many families have a hard time making the decision to put an elderly family member into a nursing home or other care facility when caring for that family member is difficult. While nursing homes can provide an excellent level of care and comfort, many families worry that their loved ones could become victims of abuse and negligence. The best way to prevent this, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is to consider every potential nursing home with a checklist. Families should look for nursing homes and facilities that are:

*Medicare-certified.

*Able to offer needed special services in a separate unit. This ensures that patients with special needs are offered the additional help they need.

Sandra Banning’s mother Virginia Thurston was placed in a nursing home after Thurston’s dementia become difficult for her family to cope with. However, inside Jacksonville’s Southwood Nursing Center, Inc, in 2002, Thurston was raped by a fellow nursing home resident, Ivey Edwards, a man with a history of sex crimes.

Banning sued Southwood and was just recently awarded $750,000 in damages. However, Thurston had passed on before she saw justice done. She passed on in 2003. Edwards now lives in a Florida mental institution. He is currently 87 years of age and was deemed unfit to stand trial for the 2002 rape.

The case has raised a number of questions, specifically the steps taken to reduce Florida nursing home abuse. Banning and her lawyers maintain that the abuse that Thurston suffered was entirely preventable, because Edwards showed a number of signs that he posed a danger to other residents of the nursing home. Despite this, no action was taken by the nursing home to prevent the abuse that Thurston suffered.

While at the Southwood home, Edwards threatened his roommate, stabbed a social worker, and hit a staff member. In the 1960s, Edwards stood trial for sexually molesting children and spent a year in jail for the crimes. Edwards also had a history of 59 arrests since 1945. All these indicators, Thurston’s family asserts, should have told staff that Edwards was a threat to residents. Even staff at Southwood were afraid of him, testimony at the Southwood trial revealed.

Banning ahs stated that she will now petition Florida lawmakers to pass some of the same laws that Illinois has in place to prevent such nursing home abuse. Last year, Illinois passed a law that makes it mandatory for the Illinois Department of Law Enforcement to perform background checks on any person who is applying to enter a nursing home. The law also requires that nursing homes post signs telling nursing home residents when a sexual criminal is admitted among them. Although Illinois is currently the only state with such legislation, Banning believes that such a law could have prevented her mother’s abuse. She could have an uphill battle — Florida Sen. Durrell Peadon introduced a bill last year that would have seen mandatory FBI background checks performed on nursing home residents. The bill was not passed.

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The National Center on Elder Abuse has reported that more than 2.5 million elderly persons are victims of maltreatment annually. This maltreatment can range from neglect to abuse. The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that of all maltreatment, 15.7% is physical abuse, 0.04% is sexual abuse, 7.3% is emotional abuse, 58.5% is neglect, 12.3% is financial exploitation, 12.3% consists of other types of maltreatment, and 5.1% is and 0.06% is an unknown type of maltreatment. These statistics are a cause for concern, since the maltreatment that is most likely to be overlooked is also the most common form of abuse.

While physical abuse leaved physical evidence that loved ones may notice, many others kinds of maltreatment – including neglect and emotional abuse – leave few clues. While there may be few outward signs of abuse or neglect, though, The National Center on Elder Abuse reports that the effects of abuse and negligence can be far more harmful for the elderly. Elderly residents in facilities may feel more isolated than a younger generation with an active social life, and this can make it harder for the elderly to get emotional support and help for the abuse they have suffered. The elderly have bones that break more easily and take longer to heal, making any accidents or abuse very traumatic. Finally, the elderly are often on a limited budget and may not be able to easily save or recover financially from financial abuse.

According to The National Center on Elder Abuse, there are a number of factors that can make the elderly especially vulnerable to neglect and abuse:

*Dependence on caregivers.
*Problems with mobility can lead to lack of access to services and courts
*Fears of losing independence. Many people would rather not report a crime rather than be seen as frail and therefore subject to increased dependence.
*Lack of awareness about rights and supportive services.
*Distrust of help and support.
*Sense of helplessness. Unfortunately, some victims feel that there is nothing they can do and nowhere they can turn to for help.

One of the best ways to ensure that abuse and neglect do not occur is to choose facilities carefully and to observe care closely. Abused or neglected residents may seem withdrawn, may lose weight, and may not be washed regularly. Careful monitoring and a working relationship with the facility can help ensure good quality care.

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