Family members should always be on the lookout for signs of nursing home neglect or abuse says Boca nursing home neglect lawyer Joe Osborne.

You and your family chose a nursing home for your loved one that you thought you could trust. As it turned out the nursing home and its services were not what they were promised to be. If their employees neglected your family member and he or she was injured as a result, Boca nursing home neglect lawyer Joe Osborne may be able to help.

If a loved one is in a nursing home you should be aware of some of the signs of neglect. If it’s possible visit your loved one regularly at different times of the day and different days of the week. Look for:

• Poor hygiene,
• The person doesn't look well cared for,
• Sudden weight loss,
• Changes in mental alertness or personality, and
• Pressure sores on the person's back, buttocks and lower back.

Osborne’s nursing home abuse law firm has had cases where clients are injured in accidents and have to go into a custodial care facility such as a hospital or a nursing home.

• Because of their conditions, such quadriplegia, they’re unable to get up and move themselves.
• Somebody needs to roll them over.
• If someone is left in one position for too long they can get pressure sores, which can become ulcers and they can become deep, open wounds.

If your family member can’t communicate well due to physical reasons like a stroke or isn’t coherent because of dementia that’s not a bar to bringing legal claims against a nursing home for neglect. There can be physical signs of neglect or abuse that can tell the person’s story to a lawyer for nursing home abuse without he or she having to say a word.

If a patient is admitted to a nursing home and is malnourished because they’re not being fed often enough or properly you'll see significant weight loss, which is an objective sign that something is wrong. If the person developed infected, open sores the nursing home may not be equipped to handle the situation properly and they may need to be transported to a hospital.

The firm recently looked into a case where someone was admitted to a nursing home and was seemingly not being treated adequately. She was transported to a local hospital and the intake at the local hospital really told the tale of what was truly going on. They documented open sores, bruises and a drop in weight of over twenty pounds in a short period of time.

That conflicted with the nursing home’s records, which is always a telltale sign that there's a problem. If a resident’s condition is not being documented properly employees may be trying to cover up the facts that the resident is not getting proper care and is suffering as a result. In this case there was an outside source, the hospital personnel who told it like it was.

Many people think that it’s only nursing assistants or maybe nurses who neglect nursing home residents and look the other way when abuse or injuries occur. As much as we want to trust doctors they may also be playing a role in nursing home abuse.

Often doctors who work at nursing homes are employed by the nursing home, which is responsible for properly monitoring and supervising their employees. They’re responsible for who they allow on the premises, who interacts with their patients and who they hire.

Nursing home residents’ rights to be free of neglect or abuse are different than medical malpractice committed by a doctor.

• A doctor commits medical malpractice if the medical care provided he or she provides is below the standard of care that should be provided,
• If a doctor doesn’t properly treat a resident or is aware of health problems caused by the nursing home but fails to take action he or she may be committing medical malpractice,
• Such a legal claim against the nursing home can be made in addition to allegations of neglect or abuse by other nursing home staff.

If you or a family member have any questions about nursing home neglect or abuse in the South Florida area, contact Boca Raton nursing home neglect lawyer Joe Osborne at (561) 293-2600 or fill out this online contact form. You can discuss your case, how the law may apply and your best legal options to protect your rights and obtain compensation for your loved one’s injuries.