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Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer in Savannah GA

Home Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer in Savannah GA

When a family can no longer care for a senior or disabled loved one at home, a nursing home provides a place to ensure that person receives high-quality care. However, in some facilities, residents are at risk of abuse and neglect.

Millions of Americans have experienced senior abuse. Older people are vulnerable to this type of abuse because they experience physical illness, mental decline, and social isolation. They may not be able to report abuse due to fear. Of course, this situation shouldn’t exist at all, but it does.

For those who have experienced abuse in a nursing home, legal recourse is possible. Savannah GA nursing home abuse lawyers at The Eichholz Law Firm provide professional legal representation for injured victims. They are committed to helping abuse victims hold negligent care facilities liable. Below is more information about how older adults can get justice for the abuse they suffered.

Why Does Nursing Home Abuse Occur?

Residents of nursing homes should expect quality care. However, some facilities don’t have the resources or oversight to ensure everyone receives the same standard of care. Some nursing homes don’t have enough staff and cannot take care of their residents properly.

Nursing home staff members often work long hours doing hard work. These caregivers are a blessing to the families who depend on them to care for senior or disabled loved ones. However, chronic understaffing and poor management can lead to unintentional neglect and even intentional abuse.

Over time, nursing home staff can experience burnout and overwork. They may not receive proper training, or they may lack adequate supervision and management. In some cases, chronic understaffing and shortages lead to poor working conditions.

These external factors make abuse or neglect more likely to happen. Victims and their families can take legal action against negligent facilities by filing a nursing home abuse lawsuit in Savannah GA.

What Are Some Warning Signs?

Abuse in long-term care facilities comes in many forms, including physical, emotional, and sexual. Neglect, abandonment, and exploitation are also critical issues.

Take a look at these warning signs and symptoms if you suspect your senior or disabled family member is being neglected or abused. You also need to know the rights of nursing home residents.

  1. Your loved one seems to be more confused or tired than before. It may be a sign of a medication overdose or unrecognized side effects.
  1. Your loved one cannot get help with toileting in a timely fashion. This can cause incontinence. If the resident is already wearing disposable briefs, skin breakouts around the diaper area are signs of sitting in urine or feces for lengthy periods.
  1. Your loved one is not getting help with walking or regular exercise. This leads to immobility and difficulty getting around.
  1. Your loved one lacks personal care, bathing, and toileting. Signs of this include wearing dirty clothes, smelling of feces and urine, excessive body odor, unwashed hair, and overgrown nails.
  1. Your loved one has unexplained injuries such as bruises, scratches, broken bones, and dislocations. These injuries can happen due to rough handling when repositioning, transferring, feeding, and administering medicine.
  1. Your loved one is malnourished or dehydrated. Signs of this type of abuse include cracked lips, dry mouth, sudden weight loss, reduced urine output, and swollen tongues. These happen due to withholding food and fluids or by lack of help with feeding and drinking.
  1. Your loved one has frequent urinary tract infections, bedsores, or other open wounds. These warning signs can indicate being confined to bed for long periods or receiving inadequate care dealing with diabetes or other chronic illnesses.
  1. Your loved one has fallen without adequate explanation or had accidents due to inadequate supervision. Incompetence and neglect often lead to avoidable mishaps.
  1. Your loved one is withdrawn and isolated due to fear of retaliation. It can show up as a lack of interest in favorite activities, very little mental stimulation, or refusing to talk about certain subjects.
  1. Your loved one is anxious, fearful, guilty, embarrassed, or agitated due to emotional abuse. Signs of abuse include ridiculing, bullying, humiliation, ignoring cries for help and call lights, and punishment threats.

How to Hold Nursing Homes Liable for Staff Negligence

Nursing homes can be held liable for the action or inaction of their employees. They can be held responsible for other negligent acts that lead to abuse or allowed abuse to occur. A nursing home abuse lawsuit in Savannah GA may include claims such as:

  • Failure to train staff members adequately
  • Hiring potentially dangerous or unqualified individuals without taking sufficient precautions
  • Failure to provide adequate security for facility residents
  • Failure to monitor staff for abusive behavior
  • Failure to impose policies and rules against resident abuse or to discipline staff members for violating those policies and rules
  • Failure to provide necessary shelter, water, food, or medication for facility residents
  • Failure to provide essential medical care
  • Failure to remove hazards and other dangerous conditions from the facility that could lead to falls or other injuries.

When a nursing home allows any of the above to happen, the facility has not met the standards of care owed to its residents. The facility can be held responsible for any neglect, abuse, or related injuries to residents. A nursing home abuse lawyer in Savannah GA can help victims determine how staff were negligent and hold them accountable.

How to Report Nursing Home Abuse in Savannah GA

If you think your loved one is being subjected to nursing home abuse in Savannah GA, talk with the facility administration right away. Your concerns may go unheeded. At that point, family members should seek knowledgeable lawyers who have experience dealing with this type of abuse.

No one should be left to deal with this abuse in silence. Fortunately, you will find hotlines and services available for reporting  abuse. If you believe an senior or disabled person is being abused, contact the local Adult Protective Services office immediately.

Every state offers resources for handling this type of abuse. If you need to report someone in another state, reach out to the National Center on Elder Abuse to find specific resources.

Savannah residents can report nursing home neglect and abuse to the Department of Human Services and the Division of Aging Services. Use the department’s website to report the abuse. You can also call the Georgia Department of Community Health Healthcare Facility Regulation at 1-800-878-6442.

If the situation is dangerous or egregious, call the police at 911.

Nursing Home Abuse Laws in Savannah GA

Georgia has specific laws addressing nursing home abuse that go above and beyond federal regulations. These laws are designed to provide further protection to nursing home residents.

Georgia law states that each resident has the right to a clean, comfortable living environment. It must be a safe place to live. If a nursing home fails to protect those rights, the facility could face a lawsuit and lose its certifications.

All laws surrounding nursing homes are part of the State Bar of Georgia. When a patient enters a nursing home facility, all of these regulations must be discussed with the patient and family members. 

Professional Negligence – Professional staff members in nursing home facilities have a legal duty to provide residents with the standard of care set by long-term care facilities and other skilled nursing facilities in similar circumstances and under like conditions. This is according to O.C.G.A. § 51-1-27.

Georgia Nursing Home Residents’ Bill of Rights – The state of Georgia has set out a bill of rights for anyone receiving care or treatment in care facilities within the state. This includes skilled nursing homes, intermediate care homes, and long-term care facilities. Residents of these facilities have the right of self-determination, a dignified existence, and communication and access to persons and services both inside and outside the facility. The facility must protect and promote these rights for each resident, protected under federal and state law. This is according to O.C.G.A. § 31-8-100.

Georgia Statutes of Limitations – Georgia provides a limited time to bring personal injury claims or wrongful death against a nursing home. The state requires that legal action be filed within two years when a personal injury being discovered. In wrongful death cases, the family has two years from the resident’s death to file legal action. For medical malpractice claims, residents or family members must file legal action within two years of discovering the cause of action or when it should have been found under reasonable conditions. The case cannot be filed five years from the date of injury. This is according to O.C.G.A. §9-3-33.

Our nursing home abuse lawyers in Savannah GA, will help victims understand the laws that apply to their case and help them use the law’s full extent to punish negligent care facilities.

Contact Our Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in Savannah GA

The legal team at The Eichholz Law Firm will help you with your case by doing the following:

  • Reviewing any relevant information given to our team to help you establish your claim
  • Gathering additional evidence to help support your claim
  • Determining your claim’s value
  • Determining possible liable parties
  • Helping you understand your options and your legal rights
  • Handling complex procedures and technical rules the state or court might have

If you believe that your loved one has been injured due to nursing home abuse, you should speak with our attorneys to learn about your options. 

Our qualified nursing home abuse lawyers in Savannah GA can offer you the legal assistance you need. Contact us today for a free consultation. Our office is located at 319 Eisenhower Dr., Savannah, GA.

Please seek the advice of a medical professional before making health care decisions.
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