Pearland Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Lawyer
About 90 percent of the long-term care facilities in Southeast Texas are dangerously understaffed. Most of us have worked in understaffed environments. After several weeks or months of doing two or three jobs at once, the pressure is too much. Some people begin taking unsafe shortcuts to get their work done. Others lash out at other people. In both cases, innocent nursing home residents often get seriously hurt.
Henrietta Ezeoke, an experienced Pearland nursing home abuse & neglect lawyer, has the resources to successfully handle such claims. Sufficient resources are necessary, because the nursing home owner is usually an out-of-state holding company. We also never take the valuable members of our professional team for granted or ask them to work beyond their capabilities. Just like we treat every client with dignity and respect, we treat every team member with respect and dignity, from our associate attorneys to our weekend janitors.
Nursing Home Abuse Injuries
People who abuse other people, physically, emotionally, or otherwise, might or might not intend to hurt the victim. However, abuse is always an intentional act. These individuals know what they are doing is wrong, but they do it anyway. Examples of nursing home abuse injuries include:
- Physical Abuse: Most nursing home residents are so frail they cannot take care of themselves. Usually, that’s the reason they’re in nursing homes. Therefore, a small amount of physical force, like a push or a pull, could cause a serious injury.
- Emotional Abuse: Basically, intentional infliction of emotional distress is an outrageous act that’s intended to cause, and does cause, great distress. Statements like “No one loves you” and “You’re worthless” usually fall into this category.
- Financial Abuse: This form of abuse is a little more common in individual caregiver situations. But such abuse happens in nursing homes as well. The specific form could be anything from stealing a resident’s valuables to falsifying a resident’s signature on a legal document.
Normally, individuals are legally responsible for these actions in criminal court. However, in most cases, criminal matters don’t fully compensate abuse victims. To obtain this compensation, a Pearland nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer must file a damage claim in civil court. Common legal theories include negligent hiring and negligent supervision.
Nursing Home Neglect Injuries
These injuries are intentional as well, not in the sense that they are malicious, but in the sense that they are not accidental. Once again, these individuals know what choices they are making. Common nursing home neglect injuries include:
- Falls: Over half of nursing home residents in Texas fall every year. Since these residents are frail, these falls usually cause serious physical injuries. These incidents usually cause emotional injuries as well, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
- Resident-on-Resident Abuse: Under staffing contributes directly to these neglect injuries. Frequently, facilities don’t have enough workers to monitor common areas and break up petty disagreements between residents before these disagreements become violent.
- Bedsores: Residents cannot develop pressure ulcers if they turn themselves over in bed every two hours. Unfortunately, many residents are so weak or over-medicated that they cannot perform this simple function. Instead, they rely on nursing home employees to turn them, and too frequently, nursing home employees let residents down.
Once again, individual tortfeasors (negligent actors) are morally responsible for these incidents. Nursing home owners are financially responsible for them, at least in most cases, because of the respondeat superior doctrine. Ordinary negligence principles could apply as well. Usually, nursing home owners have a duty to keep residents safe.
Count on an Experienced Brazoria County Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer in Pearland, contact the Henrietta Ezeoke Law Firm, PLLC. We routinely handle matters in Fort Bend County and nearby jurisdictions.
