Each year, families make the hard decision that their beloved family member would be better taken care of in an Etna, Wyoming nursing home as opposed to living alone or being cared for by them or a home health aide. When they make this decision, families like yours placed their disabled or elderly loved ones in the many nursing homes in our state.
While many situations in which individuals are placed into assisted living facilities result in residents receiving more dedicated care than they could have in other instances, there are, unfortunately, exceptions.
If you or your close relative has been mistreated by a staff member or someone else in a long-term care facility in Wyoming, consider contacting us at Edwards Law Office, P.C. When you reach out, we’ll connect you with an Etna nursing home abuse lawyer with whom you can discuss your concerns and any rights you may have to take legal action. Speaking with our attorneys is free, so don’t delay. Reach out to us now.
How Often Are Residents in Wyoming Assisted Living Facilities Mistreated?
Data compiled by ProPublica outlines how, of 35 total nursing homes in Wyoming assessed, at least 32 of them had infection-related and at least four had serious deficiencies. These issues led these facilities to incur $784,000 in penalties.
While the data above doesn’t specifically speak to abuse or neglect, a review of the ratings and alerts for those same nursing homes, viewable when using the Medicare Care Compare tool, shows that many of those facilities have had reports lodged against them. In fact, that’s the case with at least six of our state’s assisted care facilities. So, it’s safe to say nursing home residents are, sadly, abused with some frequency.
What Types of Abuse Occurs in Nursing Homes in Etna, WY?
As you’re likely aware, there’s not just one type of abusive treatment that someone can endure. Instead, there are various types. Some of the broad categories this abusive treatment fits into include:
- Emotional abuse: This may also be referred to as psychological or verbal abuse. This type of treatment aims to belittle, wear down a person’s defenses, and cause them to become withdrawn from family members or lose interest in taking part in activities they enjoy.
- Physical abuse: This treatment may include kicking, hitting, or other physically aggressive behavior. The use of restraints, both physical and chemical, could also be an example of this.
- Sexual abuse: Any undesired or nonconsensual sexual activities, including verbal advances, physical touch, sexually suggestive behavior, and sex acts may all be considered abusive treatment.
- Neglect: One of the most common examples of a nursing home resident being neglected is if they develop pressure injuries like bedsores. Fall injuries and nutritional deficits like dehydration or malnutrition may also be indicative of this.
- Financial exploitation: Residents have the right to remain in control of their finances unless they turn over that responsibility to others or a judge removes it. It’s, unfortunately, not unheard of for individuals with ulterior motives to connect with the elderly, for example, with the intention of gaining control over their private identifying information, like a Social Security number, or access to checks, debit and credit cards, cash, bank accounts, and other assets. All of these actions may constitute financial exploitation.
Who Typical Abusers Are
Since nursing home residents often require around-the-clock supervision and care, you may have already concluded that the nurses are often the ones accused of abusing them. However, they’re not the only ones that can. Since our law firm’s inception, our nursing home abuse lawyers in Etna, WY have pursued civil actions against the additional following parties for their wrongdoing:
- Nursing care facilities
- Outside vendors
- Other facility staff members like kitchen staff, program coordinators, and maintenance technicians
- Third-party medical personnel, such as physicians and physical therapists
You name it, and we’ve probably pursued that defendant for their role in abusing someone residing at a nursing home. It’s unfortunate that it has to come down to taking legal action, but it’s necessary to ensure your loved one doesn’t have to re-live the same thing and that no one else has to endure the same.
Signs Someone May Be Abusing Your Family Member at a Long-Term Care Facility
Something may seem awry with your relative who resides in an assisted living facility, but how can you pinpoint what’s going on with them if they don’t want to talk about it? If you notice that your loved one is acting in any of the following ways, you may want to speak with an Etna nursing home abuse lawyer about the next steps you should consider taking:
- The emergence of bruises, cuts, burns, broken bones, and any other serious injuries
- Missing funds from a bank account or valuable items that are suddenly lost
- Shifts in mood, which may include increased anxiety or social withdrawal, the latter of which often accompanies depressive thoughts
- Changes to a resident’s estate planning documents, like a financial power of attorney or personal representative listed in their will
- Unclean clothing or bedding
- Unexpected diagnoses of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or marks or scars on or around breasts and genitalia
There are many concerns that go above and beyond the ones listed above that may indicate someone is being abused or neglected. So, if you’re concerned someone close to you is being treated inappropriately, be sure to err on the side of caution and try to get them help.
Steps To Take If You Suspect Nursing Home Abuse
There are many reasons why abuse at a nursing home in Etna should concern you as a resident’s caring loved one. It should be because this type of treatment is potentially deadly. However, even when it’s not, it can cause a victim to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can affect a person in multiple areas of their life. This is why it’s so important to get help if you suspect that they’re being mistreated.
So, what do you do? You should:
- Document any evidence of ill-treatment: This may include taking photographs, retaining medical records, taking down any eyewitness contact information and their accounts, etc.
- Contact the appropriate authorities to document your concerns: You may need to contact the police if you’re convinced some illegal activity has occurred, and they need to complete a criminal investigation. Alternatively, you may want to report any suspected behavior to the Wyoming Department of Health using its Facility Incident Reporting tool.
- Get your loved one to safety: If you suspect that your family member’s health and well-being are at risk of deteriorating or they are on the verge of death, be sure to call 911 to have paramedics come to the scene and transport them to the hospital for treatment immediately. From there, you’ll want to consider speaking with the hospital social worker and a nursing home abuse attorney about safely relocating your relative to another, safer facility.
If you haven’t done so already at this point, you’ll want to reach out to us at Edwards Law Office, P.C. We’ll put you in contact with an Etna nursing home abuse lawyer on our staff when you reach out so you can discuss your concerns and your family member’s rights with them.
Why You Need an Etna Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer To Represent You
In cases like these, it can be tremendously difficult to come to terms with the fact someone working in a nursing home abused your mom, dad, sibling, or other relative. Coming into that knowledge may make it paralyzing to take any legal action. That’s one of the reasons why you may want to get an Etna nursing home abuse attorney involved early on in any potential case.
Some other reasons why having a nursing home abuse lawyer involved early on if you suspect a resident is being treated poorly include:
- To gather relevant evidence: Defendants facing potential criminal charges or civil lawsuits may destroy items of evidentiary value. A skilled attorney will understand the steps to take to preserve those items.
- Hire any necessary experts to help strengthen your case: Sometimes it’s necessary to get doctors involved to help substantiate your claims that a specific individual’s actions caused a resident’s injury or illness. They may also need to testify if the case goes to trial. You can count on our legal team to know who to call when such added support is needed.
- File any necessary claims or lawsuits on time: Generally, a 4-year statute of limitations applies to cases resulting in personal injuries in Wyoming. However, it goes down to two years in cases involving a wrongful death. You can expect your legal counsel to be aware of filing deadlines and exceptions to those rules.
- Calculate the totality of damages sustained: There are often both economic and noneconomic damages victims of abuse have. The former is the category to which costs like medical bills belong. The latter refers to losses like pain and suffering or emotional distress that victims may have. You can count on our law office to account for all possible losses when calculating and demanding compensation.
- Put forth every effort to favorably settle your case: When you work with our law office, we commit to seeing your case through to the finish line. We only take on cases because we believe we have a strong chance of winning them. While we make every attempt to settle cases out of court, if it’s necessary to take your case to trial, we’ll vigorously fight for you with the goal of securing a verdict in your favor.
If you’re concerned your loved one is in danger, and you want to better understand what to do next, contact us at Edwards Law Office, P.C. Meeting with an Etna nursing home abuse lawyer is free, and we don’t charge you anything to represent you unless we secure a settlement on your behalf. So, there’s no reason not to talk. Give us a call or email us today.