Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
When you put a family member into a nursing home, you assume the staff is going to follow proven procedures and make the effort to provide outstanding care for your loved one. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. If your loved one has been harmed by nursing home abuse and neglect, it is time to talk to a lawyer. We can serve your legal needs statewide
Mississippi Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers
At Stevens Law Group, we understand what it takes to obtain full compensation for the victims of neglect and abuse in Mississippi. We aggressively go after powerful opponents and seek all available sources of recovery for our clients. Again, the “tort reform” laws of 2002 have made these claims very complicated. Lance was at the Mississippi Capitol virtually every day of the tort reform fight, speaking out for injured victims.
Call 601.829.6618 for a free initial consultation with a Lance.
Exposing a Pattern of Abuse and Neglect
The most common types of nursing home abuse and neglect are:
- Malnutrition
- Falls
- Dehydration
- Pressure sores (bedsores)
- Infections
- Burns
- Assaults
Staffing and training deficiencies often cause these injuries. If your loved ones are victims of neglect or abuse in a nursing or residential facility, there are probably other residents in the facility who are also being neglected or abused; in fact, there is probably a continuing pattern of neglect at the facility. The facility’s history of violations of both federal and state laws can show this pattern. Our firm will aggressively pursue all forms of neglect, abuse and assault.
What Is Required of Nursing Homes?
Here is a summary of what federal law requires in the nursing home context. In order for nursing homes to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs, they must comply with the federal requirements for long-term care facilities as prescribed in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (42 CFR Part 483).
They must:
- Promote each resident’s quality of life (42 CFR 483.15)
- Maintain the dignity and respect of each resident (42 CFR 483.15)
- Conduct initially a comprehensive and accurate assessment of each resident’s functional capacity (42 CFR 483.20)
- Develop a comprehensive care plan for each resident (42 CFR 483.20)
- Prevent the deterioration of a resident’s ability to bathe, dress, groom, transfer and ambulate, toilet, eat, and communicate (42 CFR 483.25)
- Provide, if resident is unable to carry out activities of daily living, the necessary services to maintain good nutrition, grooming and personal oral hygiene (42 CFR 483.25)
- Ensure that residents receive proper treatment and assistive devices to maintain vision and hearing abilities (42 CFR 483.25)
- Ensure that residents do not develop pressure sores and, if a resident has pressure sores, provide the necessary treatment and service to promote healing, prevent infection, and prevent new sores from developing (42 CFR 483.25)
- Provide appropriate treatment and services to the incontinent residents to restore as much normal bladder functioning as possible (42 CFR 483.25)
- Ensure that the resident receives adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents (42 CFR 483.25)
- Maintain acceptable parameters of nutritional status (42 CFR 483.25)
- Provide each resident with sufficient fluid intake to maintain proper hydration and health (42 CFR 483.25)
- Ensure that residents are free of any significant medication errors (42 CFR 483.25)
- Have sufficient nursing staff (42 CFR 483.30)
- Ensure that the resident has the right to choose activities, schedules and health care (42 CFR 483.40)
- Provide pharmaceutical services to meet the needs of each resident (42 CFR 483.60)
- Be administered in an manner that enables the nursing home to use its resources effectively and efficiently (42 CFR 483.75)
- Maintain accurate, complete and easily accessible clinical records on each resident (42 CFR 483.75)
Protecting the Rights of Nursing Home Patients
Nursing home patients have specific rights, including:
- The ability to make independent choices
- Access to information
- The ability to express concerns and complaints
- Dignity, respect and freedom
- Participation in care
- Privacy and confidentiality
- Security for possessions
- The right to be transferred and discharged
Get Justice for Your Family Member
Contact our firm for a free consultation to discuss your claim with an experienced nursing home attorney.