Rights of Families and Residents in Reporting Nursing Home Abuse

Many nursing home facilities may have a Bill of Rights that are modeled after the Patient Bill of Rights found in hospital.  This type of document outlines certain basic rights that residents must have when they are placed in nursing homes.  These rights can range from the right to proper management of pain to the right to help make decisions about their medical care if their mental status lets them make good decisions.  This bill of rights may also have provisions for the right to a safe and comfortable environment, so nursing home abuse definitely violates that agreement.  Since the Bill of Rights for residents is designed to put people at ease and may even help people make decisions about nursing home placement, you should be able to hold the nursing home responsible for not carrying out their end of the deal.  If the nursing home refuses to accept responsibility and you need to take legal action, contact an Orange County nursing home abuse lawyer who can review your case and guide you from beginning to end.  Nursing home residents and their families have the right to report abuse if it becomes necessary.  This may happen if reports of abuse made to nursing home staff members or administrators fall on deaf ears.  There are many options for reporting abuse that has occurred in a nursing home.  If the home is a part of a large system of nursing homes, you can try contacting the corporate office and reporting your abuse problems to those in charge of the company.  If your loved one participates in a managed care plan that pays for their nursing home costs, you can also try contacting the managed care plan’s administrators and reporting abuse.  This can be effective because the managed care plan will not continue to pay resident expenses and administrators may conduct their own investigation to determine if funding to that specific nursing home should be continued.  If you need to report nursing home abuse directly to law enforcement officers, you may do this as well.  Depending on the size of your area, you may be able to work with someone who has experience with the abuse of the elderly, which will make it easier to gather information and conduct an investigation.  It is important to remember that you don’t need to back down when making reports of abuse.  Don’t let anyone intimidate you into thinking the reported abuse was confusion on the part of your loved one or a misinterpretation on your part.  You need to be an advocate for your family member who has been abused, so stand up for their rights so justice can be served.  If you feel you’re not assertive enough to do this, contact an Orange County nursing home abuse attorney.  A qualified attorney can assist you with filing reports of abuse and dealing with any nursing home representatives.