Signs of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Injuries and signs of abuse may include:

Elopement and Wandering

Elopement, otherwise known as unsupervised wandering, may occur due to a long-term care facility’s lack of supervision and/or security. Nursing home residents who are known to suffer from mental disorders such as Alzheimer’s or dementia, and are partially or fully mobile, are often more prone to elopement and should be more strictly monitored.

Residents with impaired mental faculties who wander away from a long-term care center may be subjected to extreme cold or heat, may risk falling or may walk into dangerous situations such as heavy traffic or a body of water, any of which may result in severe injury or death.

Falls Resulting in Head Trauma or Death

Nursing home residents are at increased risk of falls due to age, diminished mental faculties and/or a physical disability. Nursing home personnel are regularly required to assess patients to determine their risk for falling, and provide safety devices and services to minimize the risk of injury to the resident. Some of the risk factors for falls include:

• Central nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, dementia and others
• Dehydration
• Dizziness
• Low blood pressure (orthostatic hypotension) on standing up
• Medications
• Previous falls
• Problems with mobility and gait
• Stroke
• Use of restraints
• Visual impairment
• Bowel or bladder incontinence

Unfortunately, due to a lack of supervision or other neglect on the part of the long-term care facility, even seemingly minor falls may lead to a resident suffering from severe head trauma or death.

Pressure Sores or Ulcers

Also called bedsores or decubitus ulcers, a pressure ulcer can range from a very mild pink coloration to the skin which disappears in a few hours after the pressure is relieved, to a very deep wound extending to and sometimes through a bone into internal organs. They can be caused by unrelieved pressure caused from neglect and lack of adequate attention and care, and are more likely to occur in areas that lie just over a bone such as:

• Elbows
• Heels
• Hips
• Spine
• Tailbone (coccyx)

The development of pressure ulcers may be an indication of potential problems in the care being delivered to the nursing home resident. Even in good nursing homes, small wounds may develop but with quick attention these wounds will usually heal and not deteriorate. 

See more about Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Litigation.