Greenwood nursing home abuse occurs when elderly patients suffer from deliberate or negligent actions taken by caregivers.
Types of nursing home abuse include:
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse is any form of ill-treatment by a nursing home worker that causes personal injury, pain, or disability.
However, abuse can occur without the victim experiencing any obvious or significant discomfort.
Malnourishment and dehydration, for example, are subtle indicators of physical abuse that can go unrecognized.
Neglect
Most cases of neglect occur unintentionally because of a lack of staff.
When basic necessities like personal hygiene, water, and food are overlooked, this can be considered neglect.
This can lead to various health problems, including malnutrition, dehydration, skin infections, and bed sores.
Emotional Abuse
Also called psychological harm, emotional abuse is when nursing home employees intentionally cause mental anguish or stress by doing things that aren’t physically harmful.
However, it’s crucial to remember that the effects of emotional abuse aren’t always obvious.
Thus, it might be difficult to spot signs. As a result, emotional abuse has become a widespread problem in nursing home facilities.
Sexual Abuse
When a nursing home resident is sexually abused, they are deliberately violated in a sexual way without consent.
Sexual abuse comes in many forms and can be perpetrated by anybody, including employees, residents, or visitors.
Some forms, such as harassment, may be more difficult to recognize than others, like penetration or groping.
This includes any form of sexual contact with a resident who can’t communicate or has cognitive impairments, such as a dementia patient.
Financial Abuse
Nursing home financial abuse occurs when a resident is manipulated or exploited for economic benefit.
When a resident’s property, assets, or money are used in a way that is not in their best interests, this is considered abuse.
In addition, abusers sometimes capitalize on a vulnerable person’s lack of financial savvy.
This kind of deception may require a large group of people to pull off inside and outside the organization.
Abandonment
Abandonment happens when a person responsible for caring for an older person or who has primary custody leaves them behind.
Some examples of nursing home abandonment include the following:
- Leaving a resident unattended for an excessive amount of time in a public
- Not regularly checking in on the residents
- Ignoring or failing to respond to resident calls
