Phoenix Nursing Home Neglect Attorneys AZ

What is nursing home neglect, exactly?

Nursing home staff members have a duty to provide adequate monitoring of residents, but the appropriate level of supervision may vary depending on the level of care needed. For example, an Alzheimer's patient who is prone to walking away may need more supervision than a generally self-sufficient resident with no memory impairment. Regardless of the level of care needed, it is up to the nursing home to ensure that there are enough resources and staff members to handle these duties.

Our skilled Phoenix nursing home neglect attorneys have helped numerous families secure compensation for loved ones who were injured by the neglectful actions or decisions of a nursing home. Our years of work have taught us that neglect can come in many forms, including the following circumstances:

• Failure to adequately reposition patients. When patients are left in the same position for extended periods of time, they face the risk of developing bedsores. Bedsores (also called pressure sores, pressure ulcers and decubitus ulcers) develop when the weight of a person is allowed to rest on one area of their body for an unreasonable amount of time. Bedsores are one of the most common signs of neglect in nursing homes. The medical community understand these dangers associated with pressure ulcers, and prevention should be a standard part of patient care within a nursing home facility. They can be extremely painful to endure, and, left untreated, they can prove fatal.
• Lack of bed rails. With falls presenting such a significant danger for nursing home residents, bed rails are essential to the provision of a safe environment. When facilities fail to provide these safety measures, residents are placed at risk of falling from beds that are often pretty high off the ground.
• Residents allowed to wander. Without adequate supervision, some residents may wander away from the facility, potentially placing themselves in grave danger of injury or fatality. These risks are especially high among residents with cognitive deficiencies, like dementia or Alzheimer's. Before agreeing to care for these clients, nursing homes need to ensure that they employ enough staff members to meet their supervisory needs. Wandering residents can be hit by vehicles, assaulted or face any number of other dangerous hazards.
• Dangerous placement of items within the room. Nursing home patients need the ability to move about their rooms without falling hazards. Extra chairs, tables and medical equipment can impede this movement, particularly in situations where the patient needs walking assistance. Falls can be fatal for elderly residents, so nursing homes have a duty to maintain their facilities in an orderly manner. This includes the arrangement of patient rooms, as well as common areas.
• Improper use of restraints. While the use of restraints is necessary in certain circumstances, they should never be utilized as a substitute for adequate supervision of a resident. Staff members may leave a patient restrained to a bed or chair for appalling amounts of time to avoid providing necessary care. If you suspect this may be happening with your loved one, look for abrasions or signs or bruising on the wrists and/or ankles. If restraints are part of the agreed upon treatment plan, discuss the parameters of the usage and stop in at various times to see if they are being used inappropriately.
• Involuntary seclusion. Involuntary seclusion is when nursing home staff separate, or seclude, a resident against his or her will. Confining a resident to his or her room, removing a roommate from an existing room, denying the resident access to community areas or groups activities: all of these are acts of involuntary seclusion. While staff may think this is best for a resident, studies show that loneliness and isolation can do irreparable harm – especially to the elderly.

Our team of knowledgeable and skilled Phoenix nursing home injury attorneys includes partners who have each been certified by the Arizona State Bar as specialists in Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation. We know how to win cases in and out of the courtroom, while never sacrificing our integrity or reputation. Other lawyers from across the nation count on us to provide high-quality assistance with their most challenging of cases.