Nursing Home Abuse

Abuse in Nursing Homes can vary between physical and emotional, verbal, sexual, and neglect. In some cases can even be catastrophic by causing death. The medical personnel that work these facilities are highly trained, so what are causing these problems one may ask? Most medical facilities are understaffed and have a high rate of

Elder Abuse is defined as any activity performed by an individual whereby these actions cause suffering of the older adult, intentionally or not (Touhy, Jett, Boscart & McCleary, 2012, p. 378). Unfortunately, the incidents of elder abuse continue to rise with the increasing number of people entering older adulthood. It is interesting to note that although elder abuse is highly under reported its occurrence increased three fold over a ten-year period (Friese & Collopy, 2010, p. 61). Certainly, it is a nurse’s duty to provide holistic care to his or her patients, which must include protection from abuse. Elder abuse can take on many forms including physical, emotional, sexual, neglect and financial. It is important to note that for the

Abuse of elderly is prevalent throughout contemporary America. Elder abuse is the mistreatment of people, as defined by The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization, 60 years of age older (JCAHO 2002). “Examples ranged from outright physical assault of old people in modernized cultures that have been sadly acculturated to so-called traditional forms of family violence, to the systematic ostracisation of tribal elders by the community in some less developed countries as a form of scapegoating.” There are several types of abuse toward the elderly, but in this outlet, I will explore the details of the physical, mental/emotional, sexual, and financial abuse.

Nursing home abuse is a difficult issue to face however ignoring it can trigger serious emotional, physical and mental issues. Many victims of elder abuse are frail and vulnerable. As such, knowing the warning signs and red flags of such abuse can help us protect the health and wellbeing of your loved one. There are a number of warning signs that when coupled together can be especially worrisome. Particularly:

According to Statistic Brain, 91 percent of nursing homes currently lack the staff needed to properly care for their residents and 36 percent have violated elderly abuse laws one or more times. Abuse comes in many forms, with neglect being the most common, accounting for 58.5 percent of cases. Physical abuse, financial exploitation, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and other abuse types have also been reported, thus individuals with a loved one in a nursing home need to ensure they are receiving proper care at all times. In the event something does go wrong and the nursing home and/or its staff members are responsible, a nursing home abuse attorney should be contacted immediately.

It is to be expected that any senior, regardless of their living conditions, may scratch or cut themselves by mistake, take a fall, or bump into a piece of furniture, causing a bruise.

To better understand the scope of the problem, it is crucial that society knows what is considered as elder abuse and why it is important to resolve this issue. Elder abuse refers to any intentional or negligent act by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or a risk of harm to a vulnerable adult. There are many forms in which an elder can be abused, “Elder Abuse and Neglect” Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services distinguishes between the five most common types of elder abuse as well as their effects and/or common signs and symptoms for each. These types of abuse include physical abuse,

Abuse can happen to anyone, but elderly adults residing in nursing homes are more vulnerable and have a higher risk for abuse (Rasansky Law Firm, 2006, para. 1). Elders are among the fastest growing in the population, and because of this many more elderly

Although it does not usually make news headlines and is rarely discussed, nursing home residents and the elderly experience abuse sometimes on a daily basis. Medical errors, physical abuse, or stealing from them could all be classified as abuse. All around the world today, a population that is not able to help itself is being harmed, whether it is physical or sexual abuse, exploitation, or not being properly supervised; the elderly and nursing home residents are being abused.

Based on previous studies and cases on vulnerable adults and different form of abuse, the likelihood of this patient to be neglected and possibly sustain another injury is greater. According to a study conducted by Yeung, Cooper, and Dale (2015), they suggest that about 18% of the older population are abused in different forms. In addition, based on Health and Disability Commissioner (2005), an elderly patient was the victim of a GP’s carelessness for not fully assessing the patient and giving it enough attention, which has resulted in serious adverse health affects to the patient. Similar to the case previously, a daughter has raised a complaint against the nursing home that her mother attend. The daughter’s complaint advised the lack of

However, the most common relationship portrayed was between the health care provider and the resident in the long term care facility (Byrne et al., 2009; Chappell & Hollander, 2013;Charpentier & Soulières, 2013;Engers & Stern, 2002; LI & Jensen, 2011;Ross et al., 1998 Schiamberg et., al, 2011;Stevens et al., 2013). Recent studies have concluded, that residents depend greatly on their health care providers for, protection, health care needs and safety (Byrne et al., 2009; Chappell & Hollander, 2013;Charpentier & Soulières, 2013;Engers & Stern, 2002; Li & Jensen, 2011). Engers & Stern (2002), Li & Jensen (2011) and Schiamberg et., al ( 2011) researches states, the stronger the relationship and dependency residents have with their nurses the less likely physical or verbal abuse will occur. The more protection and attention residents receive from their caregivers benefits their quality of life as well as decreasing the chances for mistreatment (Engers & Stern, 2002, Li & Jensen, 2011).

The negative impact of elder abuse first and foremost has a negative impact on the individual. Individuals can endure many types of abuse including physical, emotional, and financial and this can lead to unfavorable consequences for the individual. Most elders experience physical abuse. “In Canada 45 percent of reported cases of elder abuse concerned physical abuse.” Physical abuse poses one of the most threatening impacts because it produces negative health effects, such as heart problems, broken bones or limbs, and high blood pressure. Physical abuse has a considerable impact on people at any age, but elders can specifically be more vulnerable and the impact can hit much harder than normal. Elderly people have less physical resilience than people who are younger and the injuries they may take longer to heal. The

Neglect is the abandonment that the elder may feel when the caretaker is not fulfilling their obligations. Neglect includes not providing food, water, clothing, medications and assistance with daily activities such as personal hygiene. Some elderly also suffer from unintentional neglect due to a lack of understanding of their needs. An example of this is the caregiver may not provide a safe environment if they fail to realize there are rugs and poor lighting on stairs can be a hazard to elderly people. Or the caregiver may not know the nutritional requirements of the person in their care and may not provide him or her with the proper food. In a CNN report 12% of elders died in a nursing home due to neglect. Neglect can also be not paying the bills for the older person, if the care giver is responsible for paying their bills. The lack of paying the elder person bills is also another type of abuse which is called financial abuse and exploitation. The caregiver can use the older person personal funds or government funded money to satisfy their own needs and leave the elder with no money and in debt.

Unfortunately, the dependent condition of most nursing home residents makes them especially vulnerable to all types of abuse. Aside from physical violence and neglect there are a number of ways a loved one may be mistreated while in the care of a nursing home provider. The following list explains the various ways in which nursing home abuse may present itself:

In many cases, nursing home abuse and neglect may not even be evident in any physical form. We all know that emotional abuse often has no physical scars but can leave massive scars on the inside. There may be situations where the behavior of the nursing home resident changes but even this can be overlooked by family and friends as they may dismiss such change to old age or diseases like dementia or Alzheimer’s.