Nursing Home Neglect / Abuse
TULSA NURSING HOME NEGLIGENCE & ABUSE CASES
You have placed your loved one in an Oklahoma nursing home or assisted living facility for one reason only–they are unable to take care of themselves. For if they could take care of their own medical and other self-care needs even with the love and assistance you and other family members could provide they would be living in a more traditional home and living arrangement. It is precisely this vulnerability which in many cases leads to serious indignity, humiliation, neglect and abuse by the ones you have entrusted to care for your ailing friend or family member. Owing to serious physical or mental incapacity patients in nursing homes and other assisted living facilities are in many instances effectively unable to defend against, report of even appreciate the full extent of any abuse inflicted upon them. In many instances any otherwise obvious signs or manifestations of serious abuse or neglect are purposefully hidden or undocumented by the institution which allows the mistreatment to continue unabated for months or even years.
It is not uncommon for direct care employees of nursing homes and assisted living organizations to be untrained, underpaid and not well supervised. Turnover is usually higher in these facilities when compared to the workforce as a whole. For many employees working in a nursing home or similar facility is clearly not their chosen vocation. Certainly many of these caregivers would prefer to be working elsewhere or not working at all. Although background checks are required such investigations in many cases are done haphazardly or not at all–for if properly done many nursing homes would be forced to pay more to retain well-qualified workers, significantly increasing the organization’s total payroll and hence reducing its profitability. Though laws restrict those with a criminal record from seeking employment with a nursing home facility–some nursing home facilities have been staffed with more employees with a record than without. Finally, although state inspections are required and do occur, staff shortages with the inspector’s office often result in quite sporatic and cursory review of any given care facilities records, premises and practices. These conditions, practices and circumstances often lead to patient accidents and injuries, medication errors, and mental, physical and even sexual abuse. Well established Oklahoma law protects the dignity and right of a nursing home resident to be free from such abuse and neglect.
If you know or suspect that your loved one has been the victim of nursing home neglect or abuse, please call our office for a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our attorneys that focus on Tulsa nursing home neglect and Oklahoma nursing home abuse.
