Some Examples of Nursing Home Neglect

Neglect, unlike abuse, is an unintentional tort. In most cases, tortfeasors (negligent actors) don’t intend to hurt anyone, such as a nursing home resident. However, tortfeasors, like everyone else, must accept the consequences of their mistakes. You break it, you buy it. California would be an even better place to live if we all abided by this simple principle.

An Oceanside personal injury lawyer obtains compensation and justice for victims in these matters. Compensation in a nursing home neglect case usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. As for justice, an Oceanside personal injury lawyer generally holds the company that owns the long-term care facility responsible for these damages.

Falls

This kind of nursing home neglect may be the most common nursing home neglect injury in California. Over half of nursing home residents fall every year. A significant number of these victims are repeat fallers.

These numbers are so high because many older adults are especially vulnerable to falls, mostly because of vision or mobility issues.

AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration), a condition that impacts most senior citizens, affects the straight-ahead vision people need to maintain balance. AMD also affects a victim’s ability to see a hazard. An obstacle like debris on a sidewalk may be open and obvious to most people, but not to a person with AMD.

Furthermore, many senior adults have gait disorders. They shuffle their feet when they walk. As a result, falls on poorly-lit staircases are common. So are other kidneys of falls, because when these victims stumble, they cannot regain their balance.

In California, nursing home owners, and other property owners, have a duty of care to create and maintain safe environments. The extent of this duty varies according to several factors, such as the relationship between owner and victim (i.e. was the victim an invited commercial or social guest) and the owner’s knowledge of the injury-causing hazard.

Infectious Diseases

For many Americans, the COVID-19 pandemic is almost ancient history by now. But for senior adults, the danger is still very real.

Coronavirus is a particularly contagious and dangerous form of the flu. The virus passes easily between people, and the virus lives on surfaces for up to seventy-two hours. When senior citizens get sick, their fatality rates are high. The strong virus overwhelms their weak immune systems.

The aforementioned duty of care includes a responsibility to create and maintain healthy environments. If someone at the facility, such as a resident or employee, contracts coronavirus, the protocol is clear. The owner must isolate vulnerable residents, lock down the area, sanitize it, and wait for the danger to subside. The owner must permit no exceptions.

Other dangerous infections in nursing homes include viral gastroenteritis (diarrhea), skin infections, hepatitis, and MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus), a wound infection-related bacterial disease.

Malnutrition

This injury weakens the body, contributing to the risk and/or severity of falls, bacterial infections, and other nursing home neglect injuries.

Vision is not the only sense that degrades with age. Other senses, including hearing, smell, and taste, degrade as well. If food doesn’t look or smell good, many people don’t eat it. In other words, malnutrition could be a problem at a nursing home, even if the facility regularly serves healthy meals.

In terms of legal responsibility, this injury once again goes back to the duty of care. Usually, long-term care facilities have a duty to employ nurses or other professionals who float through dining areas and ensure that residents are eating.

Work With a Thorough San Diego County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Oceanside, contact the Pursley Law Firm. We routinely handle matters throughout the Golden State.

Source:

investopedia.com/terms/u/unintentional-tort.asp