North Charleston Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

North Charleston is the third-largest city in South Carolina and part of the greater Charleston metropolitan area. It is home to a burgeoning population that includes many senior citizens, many of which are living in North Charleston, SC, nursing homes.

The affiliate South Carolina personal injury attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center, LLC represent the needs of the many elderly patients who are denied the quality care and respect that they deserve due to neglectful and abusive caregivers.

To help you make more educated decisions - per the federal laws - regarding where your loved one receives the care they require, our North Charleston personal injury lawyers provide information about the nursing facilities that serve this area.

Call our North Charleston nursing home injury lawyers today at (800) 926-7565 (toll-free phone call) or use the contact form to schedule a free legal consultation. All confidential or sensitive information you share with our legal team about the nursing or retirement home abuse and neglect remains private through an attorney-client relationship.

Abuse in nursing homes constitutes any mistreatment of a person living in an assisted living facility. Unfortunately, abuse of the elderly in nursing homes is a widespread problem.

It can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, race, or socioeconomic status. Besides nursing home staff members, other residents may also inflict abuse.

There are four main types of abuse in nursing homes: physical, emotional, sexual, and financial. In addition, neglect is also considered abuse since it results in a failure to provide the necessities of life, such as food and water or adequate medical treatment.

Signs and symptoms of nursing home abuse can be divided into three categories: physical, behavioral, and emotional.

Physical signs and symptoms include:

• Bruises
• Cuts
• Bed sores
• Broken bones
• Weight loss
• Dehydration
• Poor hygiene

Behavioral changes may be:

• Increased agitation
• Aggression
• Withdrawn behavior

Meanwhile, signs of emotional nursing home abuse and neglect may include:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Fearfulness

Since many nursing home residents are partially or wholly dependent on the staff members, they may be afraid or physically unable to report the abuse. Therefore, it's the family members who must look for signs of nursing home abuse or neglect experienced by their elderly loved ones.

Typically, nursing home residents are subjected to physical, emotional, financial, or sexual abuse. Serious or consistent nursing home abuse and neglect can result in physical disability, wrongful death, mental illness, or emotional distress for your elderly loved one.

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse is when someone causes intentional bodily harm to a nursing home resident. It can include:

• Hitting
• Slapping
• Kicking
• Shoving

It also includes giving residents unauthorized drugs or restraints and using physical force to restrain them.

Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse is any type of abuse that causes psychological trauma to a nursing home resident. It can include yelling, threatening, name-calling, humiliation, or insulting the resident.

Isolating the resident from friends or family or giving them the "silent treatment" are also forms of psychological abuse. Depression, anxiety, and fearfulness are all signs of psychological abuse.

Sexual Abuse

Residents in nursing homes may be sexually abused by the staff at the long-term care facility or by fellow residents. Some warning signs of such abuse are:

• Withdrawn or agitated behavior
• Bruises around the breasts or genital area
• Unexplained sexually transmitted infections
• Sudden changes in behavior, such as increased anxiety or depression

Financial Abuse

Financial abuse of nursing home residents often occurs when staff members or other residents steal their money or property. It can also happen when someone uses the resident's money without their permission or coerces them into signing financial documents.

Signs that your elderly loved one is being financially abused may include:

• Unexplained withdrawals from their bank account
• Sudden changes in their will or other financial documents
• Missing money or belongings
• Unpaid bills even though they have money to pay them

If you believe that your elderly loved one is being abused in their nursing home, the first step is to contact the authorities. When reporting the incident, give as many details as possible, including the names of any potential witnesses.

If the lack of medical care or other injuries has resulted in a severe health complication, you should also contact Adult Protective Services. They will investigate the case and, if necessary, take action to protect your loved one from further harm.

Contact the police if you suspect your loved one is in immediate danger. If the abuse is not life-threatening, you can also file a complaint with the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

You should also contact an experienced nursing home abuse attorney who can help you investigate the situation and file a lawsuit if the facility responsible for the abuse and neglect does not take action against the perpetrator. Get a free case review from our lawyers today.

Nursing home neglect and abuse have become a serious problem in the United States. The first step in response to North Charleston nursing home abuse is to report the incident to the authorities at the facility. Family members should get the local regulatory bodies and police involved if the abuse falls under the umbrella of crime, eg. rape or financial exploitation.

However, families should file lawsuits to protect their loved ones if the facility does not take action or if the resident is in immediate danger. Here's how a nursing home abuse attorney can help:

Simplify the Legal Jargon

While there are many South Carolina state and federal regulations protecting the victims of elder abuse, the law can be complex and difficult to understand.

A Charleston nursing home abuse attorney will help simplify the legal jargon and ensure that you understand your rights and options for informed legal action.

We will also investigate the potential violations of state and federal law besides the facility's policies and procedures to give you formal legal advice.

File a Claim

If we believe your nursing home abuse claim has merit, we will file a civil lawsuit in state or federal court on your behalf. Our personal injury attorneys have vast expertise and understanding of North Charleston laws surrounding elder abuse.

The lawsuit will put the facility on notice of the abuse and help pressure them to take action to prevent future incidents. It will also send other assisted living facilities a message that they will be held accountable if they fail to protect their residents.

Financial Compensation for Nursing Home Neglect

A nursing home abuse lawyer will help you get financial compensation for the neglect or abuse your loved one suffered. These include economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages are those with a specific monetary value, such as medical bills or rehabilitation costs. Noneconomic damages are more difficult to quantify but are just as important.

These include pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of companionship. Our experienced nursing home abuse attorney will help you recover these damages to compensate for the loss you or your family member suffered at the assisted living facility.

Schedule a free consultation with our lawyers to discuss your options as per South Carolina laws and foster a strong attorney-client relationship.

Nursing Home Law Center, LLC has helped thousands of clients across the nation recover the compensation they were entitled to for injuries caused by negligent or abusive treatment.Do you suspect your spouse, parent, or grandparent is being mistreated? Contact us to learn more about your legal options and to determine whether to launch an investigation.

Our Charleston office personal injury lawyer will provide legal services to ensure your receive the compensation you deserve. Contact our law offices toll-free at (800) 926-7565 for a free consultation today.

Our affiliate eastern South Carolinian, personal injury home abuse attorneys, will review your case free of charge and without obligation. We work on a contingency basis, which means we will never collect attorney's fees unless we can secure compensation on behalf of your loved one.

Look here for additional information on South Carolina's personal injury laws and data on caregiver centers

Resources:

• NCBI: Older People Abuse in Nursing Homes
• HRW: Worry Over Neglect in Long-Term Care Facilities