Avondale Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers

If there’s one particular group of people that deserve our attention and respect, it’s the incredible souls in their twilight years who require intensive care that we can no longer provide. Oftentimes though, we can help them by setting them up in retirement or nursing homes, where they can get the care and attention they need.

But sometimes these care facilities actually do the opposite. Regrettably, elder abuse is common and very real. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), elder abuse is an “intentional act or failure to act that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult.” The CDC describes an older adult as anyone aged 60 or older. Alarmingly, one in every six people aged 60 or older experienced some type of abuse in 2021.

Elder abuse is preventable. Ideally, you should feel comfortable with the fact that your mom or grandpa lives in a nursing home. If you suspect your loved one is experiencing any form of abuse in a nursing home, don’t hesitate to contact a skilled nursing home abuse lawyer to help you resolve the matter efficiently and effectively.

Why Nursing Home Abuse Happens

There are lots of reasons why nursing home abuse happens in Avondale and all over Arizona, including:

Hiring Unqualified Staff

These are employees who lack the necessary skills and education for their position or don’t meet federal or state requirements. Shockingly, some nursing homes hire staff members without conducting extensive background checks.

Understaffing

This is a common scenario in nursing homes, which makes it difficult for staff to provide residents with the care and attention they need. Employees may be overworked, which could make them lash out at residents who are uncooperative or unruly.

Poorly Trained Staff

This is as critical as running background checks for staff members. Even if someone has the right qualifications and has passed a background check, they may still require training on different aspects of the job. When training doesn’t happen, there is a risk of many forms of elder neglect or abuse happening, including improperly administering medications.

Types of Nursing Home Abuse

Elder abuse in Avondale can manifest in various ways, including:

Neglect

This happens when a medical professional or caregiver doesn’t provide the required standard of care. Common examples of this form of elder abuse include:

• Failure to provide nutrition, clothing, healthcare, or hygiene.
• Failure to keep the resident’s environment safe, which may even lead to slip-and-fall accidents.
• Failure to move patients in bed, causing bedsores.

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse happens when a caregiver applies excessive force on a resident, resulting in pain and suffering, bodily harm, impairment, or even death. Some examples of physical abuse include:

• Kicking
• Shaking
• Hitting
• Burning
• Punching
• Shoving
• Choking
• Biting

Sexual Abuse

This form of elder abuse happens when the at-fault party engages in a non-consensual sexual act with a nursing home resident. This could include rape or other forms of sexual misconduct.

Financial Abuse

When a staff member or a nursing home uses a resident’s assets without authorization, including bank accounts and cash. Examples of financial abuse include:

• Forgery
• Stealing money
• Deception or coercion to obtain finances, such as convincing a resident to sign over power of attorney
• Misuse of money
• Opening credit cards in the elder’s name

Emotional or Psychological Abuse

This refers to nonverbal or verbal behaviors that inflict fear, anguish, distress, or mental pain on older adults. This may include harassment, disrespect, isolation, threats, and humiliation.

How an Avondale Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Can Help

If you suspect your loved one is experiencing any of the above forms of elder abuse, you should consider working with the Avondale nursing home abuse lawyers at Gerber Injury Law. Here’s why:

Free Case Review

One of the main benefits of working with Gerber Injury Law is that your initial consultation is absolutely free. Our lawyers don’t charge any upfront fees for legal representation. This means you can contact us without worrying about how much your personal injury case will cost.

Comprehensively Investigate Your Case

Gerber Injury Law’s legal team is ready to handle every aspect of your nursing abuse case. The steps our lawyers will take include:

• Taking photos of your loved one’s injuries.
• Talking to nursing home employees to find out what happened.
• Collecting institution, financial, and medical records that could help with the case and prove negligence or abuse.
• Taking photos of the location where your loved one experienced abuse.
• Consulting with medical professionals to understand how your loved one’s injuries may affect them in the short and long term.

Prove Negligence

The role of a nursing home case is to prove negligence and establish liability to obtain justice and compensation. In other words, our Avondale nursing home abuse lawyers must show that the facility or staff members failed to exercise reasonable care, leading to your loved one’s abuse.

At Gerber Injury Law, we promise to treat you like family. Our lawyers work hard to earn the respect and trust of abused victims and their families in nursing home abuse cases. That’s why we go above and beyond to discover any signs of negligence that may prove elder abuse.

Negotiate Fair Compensation

As our legal team builds your case, lawyers from the nursing home or those representing the staff member may reach out to try to settle. Nursing homes often do this to avoid bad press and costly court verdicts.

While our nursing home abuse attorneys in Avondale are prepared to accept a fair settlement, we won’t rest until you get the settlement you deserve. We will reject any lowball offers from insurers or the nursing home. We are also prepared to go to court, if necessary.

Contact Our Avondale Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys for Legal Representation

If you suspect your loved one is experiencing elder abuse in Avondale, AZ, contact an experienced lawyer from Gerber Injury Law today. We care about our elderly citizens and are ready to fight tirelessly for the justice and compensation they deserve.

Call 623-486-8300 now to find out how we can help. We want to hear from you.