For better care and support, thousands of elderly people are admitted to good nursing homes. Sadly, they do not get enough attention. One might have spent much money caring for the spouse by putting them in such a place. But they are not treated the way you desire them to be.
There is a scope of negligence and physical, sexual, and emotional abuse in this place, and you may not have any idea. One cannot leave your old member in such a worst condition and live happily. You must determine whether your loved ones are happy and are well-cared in the nursing home.
When you completely understand that your spouse is not treated well, you can ask for help from the Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer. Attorney help is vital to obtain justice and improve the overall functioning of the nursing place. But before you go for it, you must find out whether the patient is abused and know several steps to take if you find it.
Ways to Find the Abuse Signs
Whenever you get enough time, you must visit the place and check the condition of your family member. There can be many ways to spot whether the person is abused. Even if you do not get answers to your queries, their physical and emotional condition will tell everything.
1. Injuries
The visible abuse sign is the injuries. There is no way to hide them; you can find what is going on in the nursing home. One must never neglect the injuries like bruises, cuts, burns, and other severe injuries. The staff cannot give the patient any reason for such a situation.
You can easily feel that something is wrong. But you must never conclude before you find all the clues. Sometimes, the reason behind the injuries can be natural, like your family member falling alone. Therefore, investigate and detect what exactly is going on in the nursing place.
2. Mood Changes
If your loved one has dementia or other mental issues, mood swings are a common problem. But you must detect whether your family member is depressed or has other personality issues. You can talk and find out more about their mental condition.
If the mood changes persist or worsen, you need to consider them wrong. Your loved one must feel great whenever you go and meet them. But if you spot negative reactions all the time, it can be an abuse sign.
3. Severe Weight Loss
You can spot severe weight loss when the patient is not properly fed. The staff may not bother enough to feed good food to your spouse. But sometimes, the patient himself refused to eat and experienced weight loss.
It is crucial to investigate the actual reason for losing too much weight. You can ask about the health situation of the staff.
4. Bad Hygiene
Many health problems, like bed sores, infections, etc., happen due to the unhygienic condition of the patient. If the nursing home staff is not taking proper care of the patient, they may be suffering from such problems.
You must check the surroundings to ensure that everything is clean and hygienic. Your loved one may not get proper medications to treat several infections. For cleanliness, your spouse is neglected.
Methods to Address Abuse
1. Visit Your Family Member Frequently
The possibility of negligence and abuse increases when the patient has not had many visitors. If you care about your family members in nursing homes, it is necessary to visit them regularly.
When you meet them regularly, they will not feel lonely, and the caregiver will care for them too. You must create a schedule and visit frequently. You can expect the staff to behave appropriately and do proper care every time before you visit the patient.
2. Know More About the Caregiver
While leaving or visiting the nursing home, you must see who the caregiver is and how he treats the patient. One can meet the supervisors and all the staff involved in the process. One can discuss the routine of the spouse and ask for the nursing details.
When you engage deeply with the staff, they can sense the feeling of commitment for your family member. They will take good care of your loved one because they know you are concerned about their health.
3. Check the Living Conditions
You must check the living conditions of the patient in the nursing home. You can easily determine that the physical and emotional health of your loved one is not good.
The main thing you can check through the living condition is the hygiene, mood, behavior, etc. When you feel things are inappropriate, you can ask for details from the staff. If they do not have any answers, you must handle the case legally.
4. Install a Hidden Camera
If you are concerned about your spouse living in the nursing place, you can install a hidden camera. But you need to be careful while doing it so that no one finds it.
The way the patient is treated will be captured by the camera, and you can complain against the staff. It can be illegal, but you must do it if you find something suspicious.
5. Contact a Lawyer
If it is hard to control things, you can ask for help from a lawyer and let him handle the case legally. No one is allowed to treat the patient badly in the nursing home, and you can easily take strict action against the authorities.
The task is more complex, but involving a legal expert can help you get justice quickly. The attorney can also help while doing an investigation and finding evidence.
Final Thoughts
You can safeguard your loved ones from the abuse happening in the nursing home if you find them timely and do something as mentioned. Once you leave your family member in the facility, you cannot abandon them. Your efforts will keep them safe and protected
