Moline Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

Moline IL Nursing Home Ratings GraphThe states of Illinois and Iowa both have strict eldercare laws enacted to provide much-needed protection to nursing home residents from neglect, mistreatment, medical malpractice, and abuse.

Our Illinois elder abuse attorneys have provided legal representation to many victims of nursing home neglect. We use the full force of federal and state laws to force nursing facilities, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and assisted-living homes to make financial amends to injured residents and improve the level of nursing and hygiene care provided to every nursing home resident.

Contact our Moline personal injury lawyers at (888) 424-5757 or use the contact form for additional information and answers, or schedule a sidebar free consultation to discuss your case. The contact form sends information to us in a secured manner. All confidential or sensitive information you share with our legal team remains private through an attorney-client relationship.

What is Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect?

More than 2.5 million people in the US live in a nursing home or a similar assisted care facility. Most of these people are elderly who rely on the nursing home staff to perform their daily activities, such as eating, bathing, medical care, and more.

When the caregivers of these facilities don’t provide the elderly with the proper care or cause harm through medical malpractice, it counts as abuse or neglect.

Abuse in a nursing home refers to any physical or emotional harm the elderly face in long-term health care facilities. It can also include pain, financial exploitation, social isolation, insufficient hygiene, sexual mistreatment, or even wrongful death

Neglect is also a form of abuse that refers to insufficient care given to a nursing home resident by the staff members.

Apart from the staff members and administrators, other residents and family members visiting their loved ones can also abuse other residents in the nursing home.

What are the Possible Causes of Abuse in a Nursing Home?

Several factors contribute to causing abuse. Unfortunately, many of these causes are from the nursing home staff members or organizations that run the health care facility.

Some common abuse causes include:

Burnout

Nursing home staff members usually work continuously for long hours. In addition, they deal with the elderly, who are generally demanding regarding their dressing, eating, and bathing needs.

Taking care of these necessities without breaks puts severe pressure and stress on the staff members. As a result, they take out their frustration on the residents by verbally or physically abusing them.

Greed

When staff members are underpaid, they try to forge checks and steal the life savings of the wealthy elderly through financial exploitation. Thieves could take their victim’s credit cards or deprive them of their personal belongings.

Lack of Supervision

A lack of supervision by the nursing home administration can lead to neglect of the residents. The staff members become inattentive and may neglect residents for hours or days.

Understaffing

An insufficient employee pool can put significant stress on the current staff members of the nursing homes. It also limits the health care services a nursing home provides its residents, leading to medical malpractice.

Incompetency

Large corporations operate many nursing homes and assisted living facilities. When the focus of these organizations diverts from serving patients to maximizing their profits, it leads to negligence of the resident’s rights and medical malpractice.

For instance, a nursing home can hire incompetent staff members at cheaper wages. As a result, the mental and physical well-being of the elderly may compromise.

Regardless of the cause of abuse, there is no justification for harming or injuring anyone. All residents deserve to live in a safe environment, but sadly, neglect and abuse is still common in nursing homes.

Moline Bed Sore Types of Abuse Nursing Home Residents Experience

Abuse in a nursing home can be of many shapes and forms, including:

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse refers to the display of force on the resident, leading to bruises and cuts. Physical abuse has visible signs and symptoms that you can quickly identify the next time you visit your loved one.

Most of the time, staff members conceal physically abusing patients by documenting injuries as happening during an accident. It could include:

  • Hitting
  • Slapping
  • Kicking
  • Pushing
  • Forced restrain

Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse doesn’t impact the elderly physically but profoundly affects their minds. Unfortunately, it’s hard to determine emotional abuse in your loved one. However, observing their behavior closely may help you identify it quickly.

Emotional abuse makes the nursing home resident scared, stressed, socially withdrawn, anxious and miserable. It includes:

  • Yelling
  • Isolation from family and friends
  • Manipulation
  • Intentional humiliation

Financial Abuse

Financial abuse is the exploitation of the residents’ money, wealth, property, or anything with a monetary value.

Financial abuse includes:

  • Money was stolen from the bank account
  • Forged signatures on financial documents
  • Unverified bank account withdrawals
  • Loss of expensive belongings
  • Obtaining confidential or sensitive information by manipulation

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse in a nursing home could refer to the non-consensual touching or sex of the elderly by staff members or fellow residents. Sexual abuse leaves physical and mental impacts on the elderly’s minds.

It includes:

  • Non-consensual sex
  • Touching the genitals
  • Indecent exposure

Neglect

Neglect refers to unintentional negligence in providing the residents with basic healthcare facilities. Since the elderly are usually prone to many impaired conditions, including dementia and Alzheimer’s, they need special care.

Staff members who are either untrained or underpaid don’t pay attention to the needs of the elderly.

Neglect can include:

Common Signs of Abuse in a Nursing Home

Abuse can be challenging to identify. Abuse is of many types, many of which have less apparent signs than others.

Some common signs of elderly abuse are:

Physical Changes

Emotional Changes

  • Fear of others, especially other residents and staff members
  • Social withdrawal
  • Mood swings
  • Emotional outburst
  • Refusal to speak
  • Increased signs of anxiety
How and Where to Report Elderly Abuse?

Abuse is a significant problem in many nursing homes in the US. It doesn’t only traumatize the residents but also affects their family members. Many residents even become victims of wrongful death when abused and neglected.

Do you suspect your loved one has been abused or neglected in a nursing facility? Report what you know to the nursing home administration (NHA). The NHA is required to report what happened immediately to state authorities.

Every state in the US has designated agencies for elderly protection and abuse prevention. In Moline, Illinois, the following agencies work for the protection of elderly rights in Illinois, including:

Apart from that, you can also report elderly abuse and medical malpractice to the Ombudsman Program. The program was required to be established by the federal Older Americans Act 1965 to protect the elderly rights.

The elderly abuse reporting procedure of the Ombudsman Program is different in every state. Contact Moline, Illinois’ Ombudsman Program to report the abuse of your loved one.

Other federal agencies, like the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, also look after the care and services provided by nursing centers. Therefore, you can seek help from Medicaid Services as well.

If you’re still unsatisfied, you must report the abuse to your local police station. Lastly, you can contact a law firm to take the nursing home authorities to court.

How Can a Law Firm Help You and Your Loved One?

A reputable law firm consists of a team of highly-trained, qualified, and knowledgeable attorneys. Our Moline, Illinois, abuse lawyers provide free case evaluations to the victims and their family members. Our personal injury lawyer examines your case, evaluates the available options, and then files a lawsuit.

Here’s how our Rock Island County and Moline, IL nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers can help you and your loved one living in a nursing home:

  • Our abuse and neglect lawyers will work to get your loved one financial compensation for the suffering they experienced from the abuse.
  • Our lawyers simplify the federal and state laws for you and your loved one. This way, you can better understand your rights and stay aware throughout the legal journey.
  • Our abuse lawyers work on a contingency basis, meaning they won’t charge you any upfront fees without securing your loved one’s financial compensation.
  • Our experienced lawyers can handle any type of abuse, including neglect, physical or emotional abuse, financial exploitation, and sexual assault.
  • Abuse cases require strong evidence of medical malpractice and mistreatment from the nursing home staff members or administrators. Therefore, our lawyers gather the necessary proof to build a stronger claim.
  • The lawyers document all the potential abuse signs in detail, including the time, date, and resident’s statements. Then, after collecting every available detail about the abuse case, our professional team of abuse lawyers files a lawsuit in court to help you get financial compensation.
Hire a Personal Injury Attorney to Resolve Your Compensation Claim

The Rock Island County and Moline nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center LLC can assist you in navigating through the legal layers of bureaucracy. Our Illinois team of dedicated, experienced attorneys handle neglect cases in Rock Island County and Cook County nursing homes, including Orland Park, Barrington, Chicago, etc.

Contact our Illinois elder abuse law offices at (800) 926-7565. Schedule your appointment today to speak with one of our experienced lawyers for your free case review in Rock Island County.

Our legal team accepts all personal injury, nursing home neglect, and wrongful death cases using contingency fee agreements throughout Rock Island County and Cook County (Orland Park, Chicago, Barrington, and more). This agreement ensures our legal fees are paid only after we win your case at trial or negotiate your acceptable out-of-court settlement.

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Client Reviews

★★★★★
Jonathan did a great job helping my family navigate through a lengthy lawsuit involving my grandmother's death in a nursing home. Through every step of the case, Jonathan kept my family informed of the progression of the case. Although our case eventually settled at a mediation, I really was impressed at how well prepared Jonathan was to take the case to trial. Lisa
★★★★★
After I read Jonathan’s Nursing Home Blog, I decided to hire him to look into my wife’s treatment at a local nursing home. Jonathan did a great job explaining the process and the laws that apply to nursing homes. I immediately felt at ease and was glad to have him on my side. Though the lawsuit process was at times frustrating, Jonathan reassured me, particularly at my deposition. I really felt like Jonathan cared about my wife’s best interests, and I think that came across to the lawyers for the nursing home. Eric