Physical Nursing Home Abuse
May 7, 2015
Sadly, incidents sometimes happen in which elderly individuals are subjected to the unthinkable at nursing homes here in Washington state: abuse. One of the types of abuse that sometimes occurs at nursing homes is physical abuse.
Many different things can constitute physical abuse of an elderly individual. Some examples of physical abuse that can potentially occur to elderly residents of nursing homes are:
A nursing home worker committing an act of violence against them.
Being subjected to physical punishment at the nursing home.
Being force-fed by a nursing home worker.
Being inappropriately physically restrained by a nursing home worker.
Being inappropriately chemically restrained with drugs by a nursing home worker.
There is a wide range of other types of physical abuse that could also occur at nursing homes.
Sometimes, incidents of physical abuse at a nursing home cause an elderly resident to suffer injuries, develop impairments or experience great physical pain. Even physical abuse incidents that don’t cause these physical harms though can be considerably harmful to an elderly nursing home resident, such as through causing emotional harm and a shattering of trust.
No senior citizen here in Washington state should have to face the horrors of physical abuse at a facility that is supposed to be caring for them. Attorneys can help families of elderly nursing home residents with trying to best protect their loved ones from physical nursing home abuse and other types of elder abuse. Attorneys can also help families of senior citizens who have been subjected to physical or other nursing home abuse by taking appropriate actions against the nursing home that permitted their loved one to be exposed to the abuse.
Source: National Center on Elder Abuse, “Types of Abuse,” May 7, 2015