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Federal laws and Arizona statutes are i in n place to help you stand up for your family's legal rights to avoid neglect and abuse. If you, or loved one, suffered injuries in a nursing facility, contact the Arizona nursing home abuse lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center (800) 926-7565 today.
According to the information collected by Medicare, there are 149 licensed skilled nursing homes in Arizona. Based on the inspector's findings through investigations and surveys, the federal agency found that thirty-seven (twenty-five percent) of the state's nursing facilities fell below the national average after serious deficiencies and violations were identified.
Nursing Center Abuse Injury FAQsWhat Is Abuse in Nursing Homes?According to the National Institutes of Health, elder abuse in nursing facilities is widespread, harming over five million senior citizens every year. Unfortunately, many cases of abuse and neglect go unreported.
Most abuse victims know their abuser, who was likely a trusted friend, visitor, caregiver, or other residents. Many victims are extremely vulnerable, including those with dementia and disabilities. Abusive behavior includes:
The National Institutes of Health identify the three significant complaints of nursing home patients involving caregivers and other residents that include:
According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), horrific forms of caregiver abuse include:
According to the National Institutes of Health, patient neglect is defined as a caregiver's failure to meet a dependent person's needs. Typically, patients' safety and well-being are compromised by the nursing staff's neglectful actions failing to provide adequate medical care and hygiene assistance.
Specific acts that could be defined as patient neglect involve:
Were you neglected by the nursing staff? You likely have the right to file a civil lawsuit to obtain financial compensation. However, proving negligence might be challenging.
An attorney working on your behalf could show that the administration or staffing members failed to meet the patient's medical, medication, physical, and emotional needs. Proving the case typically requires:
The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) maintains data on abuse, mistreatment, and mistakes occurring in nursing facilities nationwide. The agency recommends the following procedures and protocols if you were harmed by a medical or nursing error, including:
The Adult Protective Services Act currently defines what abuse, exploitation, and neglect mean in the context of the nursing home environment. Loved ones need to be aware of what constitutes abuse, exploitation, and neglect so that they can recognize their forms and protect their loved ones.
Abuse means an intentional infliction of harm, injury caused by negligent acts or omissions, unreasonable confinement, and sexual abuse. Exploitation refers to taking advantage of a vulnerable adult for the criminal's personal profit or gain.
Neglect refers to a pattern of conduct in which an individual is deprived of food, water, medical services, sufficient living conditions such as heat and air conditioning, and other services that could help a resident maintain an adequate standard of living.
An Elder Care Injury Attorney Can HelpWas your loved one harmed, or did they die prematurely while residing in a nursing home? If so, contact the Arizona personal injury attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 to discuss your case during a free case evaluation.
Damages for Nursing Home Negligence in Arizona
Victims who decide to file a negligence claim to recover damages for injuries should be aware that there is no damages cap under the state Constitution for negligence or wrongful death claims.
However, there is a two-year statute of limitations period for negligence and wrongful death claims. Victims or surviving families should get in touch with a nursing home injury lawyer and report abuse immediately upon discovering any signs of it.
Arizona Statistics of Nursing Home Abuse & Signs of AbuseUnfortunately, statistics show that the state has some of the nation's worst deficient nursing homes that do not follow professional standards. A 2008 University of California-San Francisco research study shows that seventy percent of all nursing homes failed to abide by professional standards that year.
Over half of nursing centers maintained an accident-prone environment and failed to provide quality care to patients. Some signs of nursing home abuse that should alert your attention are the following:
Our attorneys are here to help families throughout the state of Arizona in areas such as:
Nursing home lawyers are available to provide a free consultation to assist you in ending the abuse that has impacted your life. Contact our AZ nursing home lawyers to set up an in-person meeting or receive information on the phone.
Receive legal advice from our nursing home attorneys that will help you vindicate your rights.
Phoenix Nursing Home Lawyers Serving Victims of Pressure Sores & Decubitus UlcersFamilies are often shocked when their parent, spouse, sibling, or child in a nursing home develops debilitating pressure wounds. Often, the families are told that their loved one's medical condition caused the pressure wound results, or the wound is one of the many side effects of the medication prescribed by their doctor.
However, skin ulcers are preventable or can be effectively managed to ensure it does not advance to a life-threatening stage.
Contact the Phoenix nursing home abuse attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center LLC for a free case review. We can help you and your family get the answers you deserve.
Our firm handles skin ulcer lawsuits on a contingency fee basis where there is never a fee charged unless there is a recovery for you.
Often, a nursing facility is the only solution to care for an aging parent, sibling, or spouse suffering an illness or disease. Many mobility-challenged patients cannot reposition themselves in a chair, wheelchair, or bed and require ongoing assistance to ensure they do not develop a pressure sore.
Bedsores (decubitus ulcers, pressure ulcers, pressure sores) could develop quickly, and if allowed to develop into advancing stages, could be extremely difficult to treat and nearly impossible to heal completely. It is essential to understand the recognizable signs of skin breakdown in their early stages to optimize their healing potential.
If allowed to advance, pressure wounds could become extremely painful where joint infections, cellulitis, sepsis, and sometimes cancer can occur. Late-stage pressure sores are often infected, emit an odor, drain pus, or cause a fever.
Nursing Home Negligence Resulting in Pressure SoresThe increasing demand in recent decades for more nursing home beds raises concerns in handling the growing aging population. As a result, many nursing facilities are now understaffed, with overworked caregivers providing care to too many patients at once.
Nursing administrators have hired unlicensed staff, those who lack sufficient training or are not qualified to perform tasks required to meet daily needs.
Nursing home negligence is often the result of inattentive care or failing to implement developed care plans designed to prevent pressure sores. When the developed health plan is not implemented, and the patient's body is not repositioned routinely every two hours or less, pressure sores can begin to develop..
If left untreated, pressure sored can quickly become worse. A small pressure sore can turn into a life-threatening decubitus ulcer in advanced stages, exposing bone, muscles, and tendons, increasing infection potential.
Nursing home staff and management have an ethical and legal responsibility to protect everyone in their care. When the nursing facility and staff fail to provide quality care, patients become victims suffering severe medical conditions and sometimes death.
Family members aware that their parent or spouse developed a decubitus ulcer usually have only one option to protect them by hiring a Phoenix bed sore attorney to stop the negligence immediately.
By taking legal action through a personal injury claim against the nursing facility and staff, all responsible parties can be held accountable to the victim for the cost of medical treatments, along with their pain and suffering. The attorney can ensure that experienced professionals are brought in to provide proper treatment and monitoring of the victim.
Filling a Lawsuit Against an AZ Medical Facility or Nursing Home Where a Pressure Wound DevelopedSurviving family members of a loved one who has died at the hands of negligent medical staff in a nursing facility have a legal right to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Below is a list of reputable Phoenix skin ulcer attorneys who can assist families dealing with a loved one suffering pressure sores caused by caregivers' negligence.
The following attorneys can provide legal representation in cities that include:
Holding those legally at fault for causing injury to a patient usually demands taking legal recourse to stop the abuse. By filing a claim or lawsuit, family members are offered peace of mind knowing no one else at the nursing facility will suffer the same pain and injury inflicted on someone they love.
Fill in the form here to contact the following attorneys who specialize in nursing home abuse cases. They offer a free no-obligation initial consultation to discuss all available legal options for pursuing a compensation case. Nursing Home Law Center LLC has been a pioneer in the field of neglect litigation for decades. Put our experience to work for you.
Contact our Phoenix nursing home abuse lawyers or schedule a free consultation through the contact form. All discussions with our law firm remain confidential through an attorney-client relationship.
Attorney James Morgan
Licensed in Arizona
Arizona Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home