When loved ones get older or experience a bad health condition, many families opt to place them in care facilities or nursing homes. Nursing homes are a place that can care for an older person by ensuring that the person has immediate access to medical care if necessary. They also make life easier for people who have a hard time completing daily tasks necessary for a person’s well being. A nursing home can help take the stress away of caring for an elder with a medical ailment.
For all of those reasons, nursing homes are a great solution for families. But what happens when a nursing home causes physical or physiological harm to its patient? Legally, the nursing home is expected to maintain a certain level of care. If this degree of care is not maintained, it could give rise to a nursing home abuse accusation. If a victim of nursing home abuse or a loved one has reason to suspect such a terrible thing, there are a few things that can be done.
For example, many victims of such an act choose to file a civil action against the nursing home following an investigation of the nursing home and the incident. There are many rules that could have potentially been broken when a nursing home committed a negligent act, and the breaking of any rule or regulation could help a person get the compensation that they deserve.
Most Pennsylvania families hope that they will never be put in a situation where they have to accuse a care facility of nursing home abuse. The thought of a loved one suffering at the hands of those employed to help that person is a terrible thought. Still, when a nursing home has been negligent or, worse, has intentionally hurt a patient, a family may have no real choice but to seek justice through legal action.
Source: Findlaw, “Nursing Home Abuse Clams,” accessed Sept. 21, 2015