Eugene Oregon Personal Injury Attorneys

Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Unfortunately, neglect and abuse of nursing home residents is all too common. In 2001, a Committee of United States Representatives in Congress found that one in three U.S. nursing homes had been cited for abuse over a two-year period. In Oregon, there is a backlog of 1,200 complaints against nursing homes. Many of these complaints, once investigated by the State, are likely to reveal neglect, failure to follow safety procedures, medication errors, failure to protect residents from other violent or sexually predatory residents and abuse.

Physical abuse sometimes involves situations where a nursing home resident is intentionally harmed by an employee or staff member of the nursing home or by another resident. Physical abuse can also include neglect of nursing home residents, such as pressure sore formation, failing to prevent falls, medication errors, failing to monitor dangerous residents, malnutrition, dehydration and infections. Without sufficient staffing, nursing home residents may wander away from the facility and suffer injury or death.

It is important to record all events of suspected abuse or neglect of a loved one in a nursing home. That record should include:

• The date

• Name of the person involved, and names and addresses of all witnesses

• Description of harm done

• Nursing home response

Also, the resident’s general care physician should be alerted and if immediate care is needed, the resident should be taken to the closest emergency room. The nursing home should prepare an incident report regarding any injury or incident and include statements from witnesses, an evaluation of the cause of the injury or incident, and if appropriate, a plan to avoid such an injury or incident in the future.

You should also report any suspected abuse or neglect to the local branch office of the State of Oregon’s Senior and People with Disabilities Department. An investigator should be assigned to the case and should interview all relevant witnesses. The investigator is required to determine whether any wrongdoing occurred.