The decision to place an aging loved one in a long-term care facility is usually a difficult one. They may need to live in a nursing home because they can’t function independently, or when their current caregivers can no longer provide the daily level of care they need. Families, though, are far from alone when they choose to go this route. There are around 1.5 million Americans living in nursing homes. That number is expected to rise due to a large aging population. As many as one-quarter of residents may experience physical abuse while in a nursing home.

If you’ve made the difficult decision to move a loved one to a nursing home, you did it with their best interests in mind. After all, a nursing home has a full staff dedicated to caring for the needs of its residents. They are professionally trained to provide a safe and healthy environment. But something doesn’t quite seem right. During visits, you’ve noticed signs of abuse or neglect. You want to report it, but wonder if you can trust the nursing home. Where can you turn to for help?

Nursing home abuse and neglect are shockingly common. Underreporting makes the true number of incidents difficult to determine, but as many as one-quarter of residents may experience physical abuse while in a nursing home. Perhaps even more common is neglect, or the failure by nursing homes to provide residents with proper care. Many nursing homes are understaffed, which can lead to higher incidence or resident mistreatment. Whatever the “reason” for nursing home abuse or neglect, it is unacceptable. But investigating nursing home negligence can be difficult. You will need the help of experts to prove that abuse or neglect occurred.

Large, For-Profit Nursing Homes a Trouble Spot

Evidence suggests that certain New York nursing homes are more likely to mistreat their residents than others. The quality of a nursing home, the experience of their staff, and how well the nursing home is operated and managed are strong predictors of how well nursing home residents are treated. A University of California study concluded that large, for-profit nursing homes typically deliver the worst care and harm the most patients because they tend to have fewer nurses than non-profit and government-owned nursing homes.

New York Nursing Home Negligence Laws

You may be able to sue a nursing home or long-term care facility if your loved one has been harmed, whether by intentional abuse or accidentally. The injury may have been by fault of the employee or based on facility policies or ongoing practices.

Accidents or facility negligence often occur in cases where:

• Staff has been improperly trained
• Hiring protocols fail to perform adequate background checks
• Staff is not monitored properly
• Security is inadequate
• Equipment malfunctions, such as a gurney or wheelchair
• Improper maintenance of equipment has occurred
• Medication has been improperly dispensed

There are federal regulations that any nursing home accepting Medicare must follow as well. One such regulation is 42 CFR sec. 483.25 (h) which states:

• The resident environment remains as free of accident hazards as possible; and
• Each resident receives adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents.

It is a fundamental responsibility of any facility to keep residents safe and secure, with federal regulations providing “the facility must ensure that he resident environment remains as free of accident hazards as possible; and each resident receives adequate supervision and assistance device to prevent accidents.”

New York nursing home residents are also protected by a state law that allows them to sue a nursing home that causes harm by depriving them of a “right or benefit.” Section 2801-D of the New York Public Health Law states that, if a patient has been deprived of a right or benefit and has been injured as a result, “compensatory damages shall be assessed in an amount sufficient to compensate such patient for such injury, but in no event less than twenty-five percent of the daily per-patient rate of payment established for the residential health care facility.”

Whether an injury occurs due to intentional abuse, neglect, or by accident, the consequence to an elderly loved one can be life-changing. There might be chronic pain, a decline in cognitive ability, early or wrongful death, harm to psychological health, financial loss, and more.

Legal action can’t undo the damage that has been done, but it can provide compensation that could be used to pay for better care. A lawsuit against nursing home staff and/or the nursing home can also discourage negligence or abuse from happening again. Punitive damages are often awarded in these cases, reflecting the egregious nature of elder abuse.