Nursing homes offer elders significant benefits, from help with daily tasks to medical services. Residents of these facilities have rights and responsibilities that must be observed. Unfortunately, not all nursing facilities do so. Instead, residents are subjected to abuse, which can be physical, emotional, verbal or financial.
If your loved one is a resident of a facility, you should pay attention to notice unusual signs. Nonetheless, despite abuse happening, the facility may hide it. Here is how they can do it:
Falsifying information
When a resident faces abuse in a nursing home, the involved party may falsify reports, including vital statistics, medication given, how an accident happened and so on. Your loved one may tell you something, but upon checking provided records, you may find contrary information — and the nursing home may count on being able to deny the reality because of your loved one’s memory or condition.
Further, the nursing home may fail to record information altogether. Not reporting changes or updating a patient’s chart can be a tactic for hiding abuse.
Threatening residents
Unfortunately, some staff members in nursing homes go to the extent of intimidating residents. For instance, if they have private information about your loved one that you are unaware of, they may use it to threaten them into silence. Or, they may simply be bullies who enjoy their power over residents.
Denying you access
If you call a nursing home to visit your loved one, but they keep making excuses regarding why you can’t do so, they may be hiding something. Your loved one may have been physically abused — and the caregivers may be waiting for the injury to fully heal before giving you access.
Nursing homes should focus on the well-being of residents. Unfortunately, some facilities put their business side first. In turn, they will do anything, including hiding abuse, to protect their reputation.
If you believe your loved one has experienced nursing home abuse, you should get legal help to protect their rights.