Nursing Home Abuse

New Jersey Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyers

Our New Jersey nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers can help you when your loved one is a victim of mistreatment in a nursing home. We understand how hard it is for a family to make that difficult decision of putting a loved one into a nursing home.  And we understand the pain caused to you and your loved one when that trust is violated and the nursing home neglects your loved one.

Providing care to our aging population comes with great responsibility.  That responsibility requires a nursing home to provide proper care, to treat residents in a safe and decent manner, and to have the appropriate number of staff to tend to their needs.

The elderly is our most vulnerable population.  They must be afforded dignity as they age and enter the final stages of their lives.  Their safety and well-being is our number one priority.

What Are My Rights When Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Occurs?

When nursing home abuse or neglect occurs, every victim has a right to make a claim for compensation. If you suspect mistreatment in a nursing home, a nursing home neglect and abuse attorney can protect your loved one and fight for justice especially when these victims cannot fight for themselves.

The nursing home attorneys at ROSSETTI & DEVOTO, P.C. are here to help you and your loved one when mistreatment occurs in a nursing home. We can help you take swift action to protect your loved one’s safety and to prevent further harm. In addition, we can assist you with seeking compensation to get your loved one the help that they deserve.

Do Laws Protect Nursing Home Residents?

Fortunately, New Jersey has strong laws that apply to nursing homes. When a loved one suffers harm, there are multiple ways for a victim and their family to seek justice.

First, you can bring a legal claim based under the New Jersey Nursing Home Law.  That law creates a list of Resident’s Rights that nursing homes must follow when they provide care. Most importantly, residents have a right to a safe and decent living environment.  When the nursing home violates these rules, you may bring a claim based on a violation of  the New Jersey Nursing Home Act.

You also have the right to bring a claim for compensation based on state negligence laws. Negligence laws give you a valid legal claim any time that you or a loved one is injured because of substandard care provided by the nursing home employees. Nursing homes must provide services and care “to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being of each resident” and this care must be given based on written documentation for each resident, known as an individualized care plan.  When treatment deviates from accepted standards of care, the facility is said to have acted negligently and may be held responsible for the resulting damage and harm.

Do I Have a Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Case?

Whether you have a case depends on the facts and circumstances of what occurred.  However, most people generally have a sense when something has gone terribly wrong.  It often follows a pattern of what you may have been witnessing over a period of time.  Nursing home neglect and abuse may be physical or emotional, and can occur intentionally or accidentally.  When your loved one fails to get the care that they need and deserve and they are injured as a result, we will immediately investigate all of the facts so you know what went wrong.  We can then advise you of all your legal rights and options.

How Can a New Jersey Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Attorney Help?

There are several ways that your nursing home neglect and abuse attorney can help you. Some of the ways we help clients include:

• Investigating your incident to determine if neglect or abuse has occurred
• Reporting the incident to the State of New Jersey and the nursing home
• Conducting investigations
• Investigating the violations history of the nursing home facility
• Obtaining medical records and resident records at the nursing home
• Making settlement demands for compensation
• Filing a lawsuit for compensation if our demands are not met
• Guiding you every step of the way

Common Injuries Resulting From Nursing Home Neglect

Bed Sores and Ulcers
Severe infections or bedsores, as well as unexplained bruises, cuts, signs of restraint or other injuries may be the result of neglect or even abuse. Residents that are unable to move themselves and are bed bound or chair bound must have a care plan that requires staff to reposition them periodically.  Generally, this is done every two hours.  The facility may also have to take additional action including applying special medicines, changing diapers quickly, and providing special mattresses.  These injuries are extremely painful, are difficult to correct and often lead to infection and death unless aggressive action is taken.

Repeated Falls and Fractures
The CDC estimates that about 1,800 people die from nursing home falls each year. Falls are especially bad for nursing home residents because it decreases their mobility and often leads to premature death.  Care plans are created by the nursing homes to address assisting aging residents with things such as walking, toileting and grooming.  Unfortunately, all too often, the nurses aides are either short-staffed or simple do not comply with the requirements of the care plan and falls occur.  Other times, inadequate staffing causes call bells going unanswered leading residents to take matters into their own hands  without waiting for assistance.   After all, no one wants to sit in their own feces for hours.  Yet other falls are caused by environmental hazards including wet floors, food and liquid spills.  Regardless of the cause, the end result is often tragic with serious fractures and head injuries leading to untimely deaths.

Dehydration
Nursing home injuries are often the result of dehydration.  Dehydration will not only cause physical problems, such as kidney failure, but it decreases a resident’s mental status which can then lead to a host of other issues including falls and malnutrition.  Residents who do not know to drink and eat for themselves must be fed by the nursing staff.  Under-staffing and overcrowding in many nursing homes can result in your loved one not being fed and nourished properly simply because the aides do not have the time to do it.  No resident should die this way.

What Should I Do If I Suspect Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect?

Talk to Your Loved One and to Others
Ask your loved one how they were injured.  Record the conversation on your smart phone if possible.  Talk to the roommate if there is one.  If there is a particular staff member that provides excellent care and is trusting, you may wish to ask them.

Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open
As you walk through the nursing facility keep your eyes open for signs of neglect or evidence that the staff is not taking care of residents as they should be.   Are residents left unattended for extended periods of time? Are call bells going unanswered?  Are the nurse’s aides standing around or are they simply overstaffed and unable to get to everyone’s needs?

Show up Often
The more you are at the nursing facility watching what is happening, the better care your loved one will receive.  Be the squeaky wheel and let the staff know you are monitoring them to make sure your loved one is getting proper care and treatment.  If you show up and your loved one is always in a dirty diaper or left with a full food tray at their bedside, this may be an indication that there is simply not enough staff to provide the proper care.

Take Photos and Keep a Diary
Document as much of the suspected poor and substandard care as possible.  This includes taking photographs of your loved one’s injuries, and other signs of neglect or abuse.  Document your conversations with aides, nurses and the director of nursing by maintaining a diary.  It will be helpful in recalling events later in time.

The Rossetti DeVoto Advantage

Our nursing home and abuse attorneys have successfully held nursing homes accountable for inadequate care for more than 25 years. Our track record of success is no accident.  We are passionate about keeping our elderly population safe and will do everything in our power to correct any injustices.  We will guide you through the entire process and will be with you every step of the way.  Our investigation will be swift and thorough. When you hire us, you will get immediate action, answers and results.

If you have additional questions, we welcome your calls and would be happy to meet for a free consultation at no obligation.  We work on a contingency fee basis and expend all costs of the litigation.  You can also click on our question and answer section on nursing homes for further information.

Here are a few recent examples of RD’s ability to hold nursing homes accountable for neglect and abuse: