Recognizing and Reporting Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Nursing home abuse and/or neglect can involve not only the physical well-being of the resident, but also the mental, and/or psychological well-being of the resident as well. Nursing home abuse and/or neglect can take many forms, all of which are too numerous to list. The following, however, represent common examples of nursing home abuse and/or neglect:

• failure to provide proper nutrition and hydration
• failure to assist in personal hygiene when needed
• over-medication or under-medication
• failure to take reasonable precautions to prevent falls
• failure to answer call lights in a timely fashion
• failure to turn residents in their beds (leading
  to pressure sores)
• failure to take residents to the toilet (leaving them in
  soiled garments or beds)
• slapping or other physical abuse of the resident
• use of unwarranted chemical or physical restraints
• emotional or verbal abuse of the resident
• retaliation for making a complaint or filing a grievance
• failure to take adequate precautions to prevent injury to the resident
• failure to provide for appropriate medical care
• sexual assault or rape of the resident
• theft of the resident's money or other personal
  property
  

If you have any suspicion that a loved one may have been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, and the loved one is still a patient at the facility, you should report the matter to the patient's physician, the director of nursing and the facility administrator. To document your complaint, you can fax it to your physician and the facility. (remember to keep a copy of the complaint and the fax confirmation page.) In addition, you may report the matter to the facility ombudsman, and call the state complaint hotlines which are administrated by the regulatory agency which oversees each state's nursing homes. For more information, or to find out contact information for ombudsmen and state officials in all 50 states, check out the "State Resources" section at www.nursinghomepatientrights.com.