Any person living in a nursing home has a right to be treated with care and respect. If the facility responsible for caring for your senior parent, grandparent, or elderly loved one violates these rights, knowing what to do next can feel impossible.
If your loved one has suffered abuse or neglect in their care facility, you want a qualified Phoenix, AZ, nursing home abuse lawyer by your side. At Goldwater Law Firm, we’re the Gold Standard of Injury Law and will not stand for any elder being mistreated. Please contact us now to find out how we can help.
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We Know Nursing Home Abuse Is a Painful Betrayal
When we make the difficult decision to help a loved one move into a nursing home, there’s an expectation that they will be taken care of and nurtured. When the staff fails to do so or outright abuses your loved one, it can feel like the worst betrayal. We understand how infuriating and scary it can be to learn that your elderly loved one has been mistreated. We’re on your side, and we’re here to help you fight for justice and the damages your family is owed.
At The Goldwater Law Firm, we have connections to Phoenix personal injury lawyers with extensive experience handling nursing home abuse and neglect cases. The Phoenix nursing home abuse attorneys at our partner law firms can help you navigate this challenging time and help ensure the proper party is held accountable for their inexcusable actions.
Our co-counsels will manage every aspect of your case, including:
- Ensuring your loved one’s safety
- Speaking with the facility’s administration and your loved one’s abuser
- Gathering evidence of the abuse
- Establishing your damages
- Determining a value for your damages
- Negotiating a settlement
- Taking your case to court if necessary
Our law firm partners will not rest until your loved one sees justice.
Compensation a Phoenix Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Will Seek for You
Our law firm partners will fight to recover compensation for damages like:
- Your loved one’s medical bills, including care for their injuries or bedsores and counseling
- Pain and suffering
If you lost your loved one to abuse, you could recover:
- Funeral and burial costs
- Medical bills your loved one incurred before their passing
- Loss of love, comfort, and affection
- Pain and suffering
Common Signs of Nursing Home Abuse: Has This Happened to Your Loved One?
Nursing home abuse can take many different forms. When visiting your loved one at a care facility, it’s important to keep an eye out for the most common signs of abuse, including:
- Bruises or cuts
- Emotional withdrawal
- Silence around staff
- Unexplained diseases
- Malnutrition
- Bedsores
- A sudden change in power of attorney or will
- A caregiver’s refusal to leave you alone with your loved one
Has Your Loved One Been Abused in Their Nursing Home?
Please don’t wait to take legal action. Your loved one has rights, and the sooner you contact us, the sooner we can help you take steps toward the justice your family deserves.
Why Does Nursing Home Abuse Happen?
The following are just some examples of the most common reasons nursing home abuse happens:
- Negligent hiring: Nursing home staff are expected to maintain a certain level of conduct and professionalism. It’s up to the facility to vet staff accordingly to ensure they are qualified.
- Poor training: Even when staff are technically qualified, they may still be undertrained. This can put them in conflict with the law that demands a certain level of care.
- Understaffing: Unfortunately, neglect is common in nursing homes because of understaffing. The facility has a responsibility to ensure that every last resident has the care they need, and when there isn’t enough staff to provide this care, neglect and harm are likely to occur.
- Medication errors: Giving someone the wrong medication can have serious consequences. If your loved one has suffered from this, the physician, pharmacist, or pharmacy can be held accountable.
What Types of Nursing Home Abuse Do I Need to Look Out For?
There are five different types of abuse you should be aware of if your loved one is a nursing home resident:
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse includes things like hitting, kicking, punching, pinching, burning, or unnecessary physical or chemical restraints.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional or psychological abuse can include things like shouting at, embarrassing, threatening, or isolating a resident.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse can include non-consensual touching, rape, exposing oneself to a resident, taking photos of a resident undressing, or forcing a resident to watch pornography.
Financial Abuse
Financial abuse can include stealing cash or valuables from a resident, coercing or forcing a resident to change their will or power of attorney, or charging for services that were not required or performed.
Neglect
Nursing home staff sometimes fail to provide the care their residents need, either intentionally or unintentionally. Examples of neglect include failing to follow a fall prevention plan, not changing bed sheets or clothing, failing to move residents to prevent bedsores, or failing to provide food, water, or medication.
Any type of abuse can never be condoned in a nursing home. We will help you seek justice. A Phoenix
Arizona Nursing Home Laws You Should Know
In Arizona, there are special laws that nursing home facilities must follow. Many of these laws involve specific measurements for their facilities. For example, nursing homes must have at least 40 square feet of indoor activity space per resident, as well as one toilet and sink for every 10 residents. Additionally, the temperature must be set between 70 and 84 degrees. The legal rights of residents must also be posted in a spot where nursing home residents can easily see and read them.
When these legal rights are violated, and you need to file a nursing home abuse claim, you’ll have to navigate a complicated legal process. That’s why hiring an experienced nursing home abuse attorney in Phoenix, AZ, will give you the best chance of building a solid case to get the compensation you’re owed. All you have to do is contact Goldwater Law Firm today, and we’ll connect you with an attorney who can take care of the entire process while you focus on ensuring your loved one has the proper care they need.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you suspect that your loved one is being abused at a nursing home, you’ll need to get the proper authorities involved as soon as possible. That means contacting Arizona’s Task Force Against Senior Abuse or the local Adult Protective Services department. If your loved one is in immediate danger, however, always call the police.
Strictly speaking, both nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect are criminal acts, but they’re defined differently. Abuse is direct harm or exploitation committed against a resident, while neglect is indirect harm caused by a failure to perform specific duties. Abuse is always intentional, while neglect can be intentional or unintentional.
Any resident in an Arizona nursing home has rights designed to protect them from abuse and neglect. They have the right to refuse treatment, the freedom from unnecessary restraint, and the right to get a referral to another facility.
Liability in a nursing home abuse case may spread further than just one individual abuser. The truth is there can be multiple abusers in a nursing home, and the facility itself often carries most of the blame.
You can always afford a lawyer when you work with The Goldwater Law Firm and our co-counsels. As the Gold Standard of Injury Law, we firmly believe that everyone should have access to quality legal representation, especially when an elderly loved one has suffered harm due to a facility you trusted. You never have to worry about upfront fees to hire an experienced Phoenix, AZ, nursing home abuse attorney, and we won’t charge you a penny unless your case is won and you get the money you deserve!
Seek Justice With the Help of a Phoenix Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Today
You and your family deserve justice. We want to help you get it. We won’t stand by while abusers get off scot-free. Our team will connect you with a law firm in Phoenix that will fight for justice and every dollar you deserve. Call today for your free consultation.