Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer: Recognizing Troubling Signs

It should go without saying that the vast majority of health care facilities provide excellent homes for their seniors in need. Unfortunately, there are enough bad apples out there for customers to be cognizant of the dangers. In any metropolitan area (and even in plenty of smaller towns), a nursing home neglect lawyer is going to have enough work to keep him busy. Some of these cases arise from accidents that shouldn't have happened while others arise from deliberate cruelty. Whatever the cause, however, it is your responsibility as a loved one to keep an eye out for any troubling signs. Here are some you should be aware of.

Physical Signs

A nursing home neglect lawyer will want to see physical signs of trouble before anything else, and this is exactly what you should be looking for as well. Seniors beyond a certain age have much thinner skin, so it isn't uncommon to see the slight scrape here and there. However, an abundance of these could be a cause for worry. Look for bruises, more developed injuries, and certainly take note of any broken bones. Are these always a sign that something is wrong? No, but they should be enough reason to investigate further. Whenever an injury seems at odds with your loved one's history or illness, you should immediately put on a suspicious hat and get to the bottom of the matter.

Demeanor

Those who are abused or neglected often change their behavior and demeanor, even if they aren't willing to speak out against their perpetrator. Cases have made headlines where the patients are under strict orders not to let their loved ones know that anything is wrong or suffer repercussions. In other cases, no such warning is necessary. Often, a senior was steadfastly against being put into the facility in the first place. Perhaps this is your situation. In these cases, the loved ones often ignore pleas for help because they think it's nothing more than an attempt to get out of the home. Take any such complaints seriously, even if you believe there are ulterior motives. Any nursing home neglect lawyer can tell you that there is often merit to the complaints.

Poor Hygiene

These cases don't always center around injuries or direct cruelty. If you've watched movies or read sensational articles, you may expect to see grievous injuries before thinking anything is wrong. But the problem can be much subtler and still be serious. Look for poor hygiene and general uncleanliness and consider that unacceptable. If the facility can't do better than that, your loved one deserves a place that can.