Feb 26, 2017
Protect Your Loved Ones from Wrongful Death and Nursing Home Neglect
In larger nursing homes across the country, death could be a weekly occurrence. They’re taking care of the terminally ill, elderly, and others who are sometimes ready to pass on. A good nursing home provides quality care. Sometimes, their main job is to keep residents comfortable during their later years. It could be as simple as turning patients who are immobile to avoid bed sores and other complications.
We trust them with our loved ones when they’re at their most vulnerable. When nursing home employees and others violate our trust, it could have serious consequences. Sometimes, it leads to permanent and /or life-threatening injuries. If you believe your loved ones were injured due to the neglect of someone hired to care for them, you can call a personal injury attorney at any time.
If you’re unsure about a loved one’s death, always call a wrongful death attorney in Miami. While many might be used to seeing the elderly and others die in nursing homes, it is not something we take lightly. Things like excessive bruising could be red flags for many families. Someone can call us when their loved one complaints of maltreatment. Others can call when they notice smells, bruises, and other signs of neglect along the way. So when they decline quickly or die when they were previously healthy, that can lead to having major concerns.
Wrongful Death Lawyers Explore the Unexplained in Nursing Homes
Not every client has a specific concern when they come in. Sometimes, they just have a feeling something isn’t quite right. Other times, they’ve noticed a lot of things that remain unexplained. When you ask the nursing home about certain things, it’s normal to defer to doctors and nurses; especially if it’s a medical question, they’re the right people to provide accurate answers.
Some get vague responses, if any answers at all. They want to understand how their loved one passed, and a wrongful death attorney can investigate that when necessary. If you installed a video camera based on your concerns, lawyers could review those tapes and evaluate them based on the law in Florida. Sometimes, the appropriate techniques to help patients get up might not look the same to a family member as they would to a nurse or patient care technician.
We can also evaluate things like the nursing home’s hiring practices and how many complaints they’ve had. It’s normal for a nursing homes to have some complaints due to misunderstandings or small mistakes. A wrongful death lawyer finds the bad apples by looking at the numbers. How common are deaths in their facilities? Are the circumstances questionable? What kind of care are they providing? Something like not regulating temperatures could put the elderly in the hospital.
Not All Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Is Intentional
If you watch legal dramas and the media, you might paint a picture in your head of evil. Some families come to a wrongful death attorney in Miami with the idea that it was done intentionally to hurt their loved one. Many cases of nursing home neglect including those that end in death aren’t intentional at all.
They’re related to avoidable issues like a lack of training. Maybe they hire people who aren’t qualified and don’t provide more training. They might be understaffed, not providing the proper support to ensure every patient has enough workers to help them with vital tasks. Many employees in nursing homes have the right intentions. They want to work with populations who need more physical assistance and care for personal fulfillment and a job they feel good going to work every day.
When they’re assigned too many hours or not given sufficient support or training, even the most dedicated employees can struggle. They may not be able to care for each patient properly and administer all necessary medical care. When you include employees that may not have been screened properly or those who are abusing patients, you can run into countless issues. It’s a wrongful death lawyer’s job to separate these instances from normal incidents.
Tackle Your Case with a Wrongful Death Attorney in Miami
If you believe you’ve lost a loved one to nursing home abuse or neglect, call a wrongful death attorney in Miami. These situations can be confusing, and it’s not unusual for families to be unsure of what to expect. Clients who come in aren’t always sure if they have a case. That’s why you’re coming to a wrongful death lawyer in the first place.
We can review your case and explore the facts. We can nail down any evidence or documentation before it can get lost. Then we can give you an idea of what your case is worth and what might’ve happened. Sometimes, the death of a loved one in a nursing home is just part of the process. It’s a wrongful death lawyer’s job to separate the good from the bad and determine what could’ve been avoided and what’s neglect.
To schedule your consultation, click here. Every case is likely subject to tight deadlines. So the sooner we get started, the better. We can get you answers sooner, and then you can decide where you want to go from there.