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Sexual abuse is more common than anyone might believe. Nursing home employees who like to abuse residents as a means of coping with their own lives or working out their frustrations are not above resorting to sexual abuse of nursing home residents. When your loved one reports sexual abuse, you may want to believe that they are mistaken because you don’t want to have to believe that someone charged with their care violated them sexually. However, you must listen to the claims of your family member so you can be sure they are investigated thoroughly. Reports of sexual abuse may include claims of sexual contact or even rape. Other sexual abuse can include posing residents for sexual photographs or forcing residents to disrobe against their will when it is not for a shower or other accepted procedure. If your loved one trusts you enough to report abuse, keep their needs in mind and make sure their claims are investigated. You can report abuse to administrators, but they may be unwilling to investigate. Law enforcement officers and social service agencies can also handle claims of nursing home abuse that involves sexual misconduct. If your loved one has been the victim of sexual abuse, contact a Los Angeles nursing home abuse attorney to find out how you can prevent further abuse.
For questions about Nursing Home Abuse in Southern California you can contact Southern California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Michael Young to discuss you or your loved ones situation. The Elder Abuse Law Offices of Young and Wallin serve all counties in Southern California, including nursing home neglect cases in Los Angeles, nursing home neglect cases in Riverside, nursing home negligence matters in Orange County, as well as San Bernardino and San Diego. Contact us if you would like more information on how you can put an end to nursing home abuse in southern California.
Your loved one may not get a chance to report physical abuse before you discover it because physical abuse leaves a trail that is more apparent then psychological abuse. You may notice bruises, cuts, scratches, scrapes, and bite marks on your loved one’s body. If the abuse is severe enough, your loved one may have also experienced a suspicious injury such as a concussion or a severe fracture. When you notice these signs of abuse, it is up to you to investigate them by asking nursing home employees how the signs appeared. Sometimes, the signs of abuse may really be accidental injuries. If a resident falls in the bathroom, bruising may appear. Fractures can also appear if someone falls and they hit the floor or furniture around them. However, abused residents may get repeated injuries that wouldn’t make sense if they only fell once. Bruising may fade, but it can still leave marks on the skin so your loved one may have a combination of old yellow bruising and new purple or black and blue bruises. When your loved one needs to report abuse before it is noticed, he or she may tell of being handled roughly or having an employee hit, slap, kick, or punch them. If your loved one reports this kind of abuse, it is important that you contact a California nursing home abuse attorney as soon as possible so you can preserve their rights and help them stop the abuse that is happening to them. The Nursing Home Neglect Law Offices of Young and Wallin provides free consultations to all those in need. If you suspect a loved one may be the victim of nursing home neglect or abuse contact Mr. Young immediately to explore your options and preserve your rights. Elder Abuse Attorney Michael Young handles cases throughout California including Fresno, Bakersfield, San Diego, as well as nursing home abuse cases in Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Bernardino. Mr. Young is also will and able to handle nursing home neglect cases in Northern California including San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento.
Your documentation should contain as many details as possible. If you notice bruises on your loved one, make a note of the location and take a photograph or make a drawing, if possible. Other signs can be documented in a journal-style format and should include the date, how the signs of abuse were discovered, and if your loved one reported any abusive behavior. While documenting these signs of abuse and neglect can be tedious, it is important to do if you want to report the abuse to Medi-Cal and other agencies. A skilled California nursing home abuse lawyer can tell you what information you will need to document and how to go about using that information to resolve the abusive situation your loved one has been facing. Since Medi-Cal funds the care of many nursing home residents, this agency does have the authority to dictate how the facilities must be run and may intervene if you are able to document abuse. The key to reporting abuse to Medi-Cal is to be persistent. State agencies are often overwhelmed with what needs to be done on a daily basis and you may have to get through some red tape and a lot of voicemail messages before you are able to speak with someone who can assist you with your abuse claim. Once you find that person, keep in touch with them frequently so you can be sure your claim doesn’t fall through the cracks. If you have difficulty finding someone to help you with your claim, contact a Los Angeles nursing home abuse attorney so that you have the help of a legal professional behind you to show that you mean business. For questions about Nursing Home Abuse in Southern California you can contact Southern California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Michael Young to discuss you or your loved ones situation. The Elder Abuse Law Offices of Young and Wallin serve all counties in Southern California, including nursing home neglect cases in Los Angeles, nursing home neglect cases in Riverside, nursing home negligence matters in Orange County, as well as San Bernardino and San Diego. Contact us if you would like more information on how you can put an end to nursing home abuse in southern California.
If you plan on reporting possible abuse to Medi-Cal, you’re going to want to have some documentation of your claims or at least a running record of all the abuse or neglect you have suspected or seen while your loved one was a resident of a nursing home facility. To do this, you’ll need to know how to identify nursing home abuse and neglect by observing the condition of your loved one and making sure you follow up on any unexplained injuries, infections, or psychological deterioration. Some of the most obvious signs of nursing home abuse include bruises, repeated fractures, unexplained slips and falls when residents are not supervised, and actual reports from residents that abuse and neglect are occurring. If you see any of these signs, contact a California nursing home abuse lawyer immediately to preserve your rights and find out what you can do to notify Medi-Cal of the situation. There are also less obvious signs of nursing home abuse that may not be as direct as seeing bruises or receiving reports of abuse from nursing home residents. Many of these signs have to do with psychological abuse instead of physical abuse. While residents may not show bruises and marks on their skin, psychological abuse can bruise their fragile mental states and cause them to engage in different behaviors that can signify that something is wrong. Irritability, argumentativeness, and other attitudes and behaviors that have never been displayed before may indicate that your loved one has been a victim of nursing home abuse. If you notice any of these signs and they can’t be explained by a medical condition, contact a California nursing home abuse attorney to find out what your options are and preserver your rights. If you or a loved on has questions regarding a nursing home abuse matter, please contact Nursing Home Neglect Attorney Michael Young for a FREE Consultation. Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Michael Young is a featured speaker at many nursing home abuse seminars throughout California. The Nursing Home Abuse Law Offices of Young and Wallin handles cases throughout California including Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbra, Fresno, Sacramento, Orange County, Bakersfield and Ventura.
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. For questions about Nursing Home Abuse in Southern California you can contact Southern California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Michael Young to discuss you or your loved ones situation. The Elder Abuse Law Offices of Young and Wallin serve all counties in Southern California, including nursing home neglect cases in Los Angeles, nursing home neglect cases in Riverside, nursing home negligence matters in Orange County, as well as San Bernardino and San Diego. Contact us if you would like more information on how you can put an end to nursing home abuse in southern California.
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