Experienced & Aggressive North Carolina Lawyers

Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect

Negligence and abuse in nursing and residential care facilities throughout North Carolina have become all too common. More than 30 percent of the country’s nursing homes have been cited for violations that put residents in harm’s way. Every day, nursing homes are being cited with violations of state and federal laws.

For some common signs of abuse and neglect, click here.

In the United States, the individual states regulate the insurance companies. There is no federal agency that regulates the insurance industry. In North Carolina, the state agency that oversees insurance companies is called the Department of Insurance.

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Nursing home abuse and neglect has been called the hidden crime because it can be difficult to recognize, has been concealed by nursing home staff, or the victim is too frightened or incapacitated to report the mistreatment. An estimated 84 percent of abuse cases go unreported or unrecognized.

Even with strict regulations, nursing home residents suffer abuse and neglect at the hands of those charged with helping them. Abuse may take the form of assault or battery, sexual abuse, rape, unnecessary physical restraint, insufficient food or water or the improper use of medication. Residents who are neglected may suffer lack of hygiene, lack of medical attention, bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration, emotional isolation, and “slip and fall” accidents.

While many nursing homes provide quality care and support for their residents, a General Accounting Office (GAO) study reported that 25 percent of the nations’ over 17,000 nursing facilities “…had deficiencies that caused actual harm to residents or placed residents at risk of death or serious jeopardy.” Under the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987, a nursing home is required to “provide services and activities to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being of each resident” in accordance with a specific plan of care. To obtain Medicare and Medicaid funds, nursing homes must also comply with the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations policies for long-term care that specify that Nursing Homes must:

Have sufficient nursing staff to provide nursing and related services
Develop a comprehensive care plan for each resident
Prevent the deterioration of a resident’s ability to bathe, dress, groom, transfer and ambulate
Ensure that residents receive proper treatment to maintain vision and hearing abilities
Ensure that residents do not develop bedsores
Provide appropriate treatment and services to incontinent residents
Ensure that the resident receives adequate supervision and assistive devices to prevent accidents
Ensure that residents are free of any significant medication errors
Promote care for residents in a manner and environment that maintains or enhances each resident’s dignity
Ensure that the medical care of each resident is supervised by a physician and must provide or arrange for the provision of physician services 24 hours a day, in case of an emergency
Provide pharmaceutical services

If your loved one has been abused, injured or died in a nursing home or assisted care facility, please do not hesitate to call us at 1-800-811-9495 for a free consultation or contact us online. At Younce & Vtipil it will cost you nothing to speak with an attorney about your potential claim and there is no obligation when you call.