Nursing Home Abuse / Neglect
Experienced Tampa Bay, Florida Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer
Chadwick & Chadwick serves your loved ones who are abused or neglected in a nursing home or assisted living facility in Tampa Bay, including Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando, Polk, Manatee counties and throughout central Florida.
The sudden need for nursing care has caused many families to make a rushed decision about who will tend to their loved one’s health needs. Without proper research the choice might be dictated by distance from your home or your first impression of your first care facility visit.
Thousands of families each year must consider placing a parent or grandparent in a nursing home where their medical and day-to-day needs may be met.
Trusting you elderly loved one’s care to complete strangers can be extremely heart wrenching. That’s the first reason why you need a Nursing Home Abuse attorney like Chadwick & Chadwick on your side.
Sadly, nursing home abuse and neglect is becoming epidemic in the U.S., and the Tampa Bay metropolitan area is not exempt from this tragedy.
The Florida legislature has created a bill of rights for a nursing home and assisted living facility residence. The law requires every nursing home and assisted living facility to provide the reside guardian with a copy of the mandated resident’s rights upon admission. The Florida bill of rights requires that all residents receive “adequate and appropriate healthcare and to live in a safe and decent living environment, free from abuse and neglect.” The Florida legal recourse for any resident whose rights have been violated. If you are concerned or have questions about the facilities care, we suggest that you do the following:
- Obtain names, addresses and telephone numbers of any witnesses.
- Photograph the scene where any injury has occurred and any visible signs of injuries on the person who has suffered.
- Make certain that the victim’s personal position has been told what has occurred and describe their injuries and complaints.
- Keep a diary.
Regulations not enough to protect seniors
Although federal regulations and Nursing Home Residents’ Rights in the Florida Statutes have been established to protect the elderly in these settings, gross violations occur every day, tragically compromising the health, well-being and dignity of some of our society’s most vulnerable members.
Primary care shortage adds to elder neglect
As Federal and State legislators debate, Florida’s population ages. And as the average age climbs, the need for primary care physicians grows more critical. However, laws don’t care for your loved one. People do – doctors, nurses, assistants, counselors, therapists, custodians, cooks and more.
A national study in 2010 discovered that 91% of nursing homes lack adequate staff to properly care for patients.
When the nursing home staff operates shorthanded, your loved one is neglected.
Signs of neglect
- Insufficient nursing staff level
- Inattentive care providers
- Indifferent care providers
- Incompetent care providers
- Stressed care providers
- High staff member turnover rate
- Unsanitary living conditions
- Poor personal hygiene or
- Infections
- Being left alone for prolonged periods
Chadwick & Chadwick is one of Tampa Bay’s respected leaders in nursing home negligence litigation. Call toll-free 813-264-1500 for no-obligation consultation on behalf of your loved one experiencing neglect in a care facility or nursing home.
The same 2010 national study revealed that 36% of the nursing homes have been in violation of elderly abuse laws. Abuse occurs in many ways. However, it’s not always immediately obvious if your loved one is suffering from ill treatment. For example, you may be told that falls are a normal part of the aging process. Or that bruises are unavoidable. This is not true.
Elderly
Mistreatment of an elderly person, often known to the senior, has no demographic or ethnic boundaries. It occurs in Tampa St. Petersburg, New Port Richey and surrounding cities and counties – in poor, middle class and upper-income households.
Financial mistreatment
Anyone you has access to your personal information, such as bank account numbers, credit cards or checkbook can potentially steal from you.
Physical abuse
If you or a loved one experiences unexplained abrasions, lacerations, bruises, burns, scalp wounds – to list just a few abuses – you may be a victim of mistreatment.
Emotional mistreatment
Verbal assaults, intimidation, humiliation and isolation can cause deep mental and emotional trauma in seniors. Acts of rage, abusive treatment and verbal threatening are not acceptable behavior, whether done by a family member or a non-family caregiver.
Neglect
Failure to provide basics needs to the elderly, like food, shelter, medical assistance, heat, air conditioning or personal hygiene products, is elder mistreatment.
For free consultation, please contact Chadwick & Chadwick, attorneys in mistreatment claims, toll free, any hour of the day or night, 813-264-1500.
