Protect Your Loved One from Abusive Florida Nursing Homes
Choosing to place your aging loved one in a Florida long-term care facility is almost always a challenging, emotionally fraught one. You do it because you believe that experienced medical professionals will be better able to care for them. Because your loved one can no longer live independently, you cannot provide them with the assistance they require.
In turn, facilities that offer long-term living for the elderly make a binding promise that they will give their residents the best possible care and operate under accepted protocols. They fully staff their facilities with trained professionals and have practices to catch and stop any violations that could lead to problems.
Sadly, all too often, that is not the case in Florida. ProPublica currently lists 92 facilities across the state with serious deficiencies.
Things like poor infection control. Lack of staffing. Inadequate oversight of staff. Delay in treatment. Owners and operators who care about nothing but the bottom line lead to systematic neglect and poor treatment of residents.
At The Winston Law Firm, we have seen this horrific story play out repeatedly in the nursing home abuse and neglect cases we take on. Families who put their trust in the operators of a facility only to have that trust violated when their loved ones are harmed — and in some cases die — due to the negligent or abusive acts of those running the facility.
If your aging loved one has suffered an injury in a long-term care facility, you do not have to take it lying down. You can and should fight back to hold them accountable and get the compensation you need and deserve for what you and your loved one have endured.
Andrew Winston and his team of knowledgeable legal professionals have decades of experience taking on nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and medical professionals in general. We know what it takes to help you prove your case and find justice.
How Do You Know If Your Loved One Is Being Neglected or Abused in Their Florida Nursing Home?
In many cases, abused or neglected residents will not come forward to report instances of abuse or neglect. Some may feel ashamed, embarrassed, or like their voices do not matter. Others may feel intimidated into keeping silent. Finally, depending on their condition, they may not even know they are being mistreated.
Because of this, loved ones must act as advocates and pay close attention to both the behavior and physical signs that can accompany abuse and neglect.
These include but are not limited to:
- Bleeding
- Bruises
- Broken bones or fractures
- Dehydration
- Depression
- Infections
- Loss of interest in activities or socialization
- Malnutrition
- Not eating
- Open wounds
- Overwhelming anxiety
- Physical discomfort
- Poor hygiene
- Pressure sores
- Silence – particularly in front of caretakers
- Skin irritation
- Weight loss
While none of those issues necessarily mean neglect or abuse occurs, they should always be reported to the proper authorities if you notice them. You should reach out to a skilled nursing home neglect attorney. The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Office deals with abuse reports in Florida.
By filing a report and seeking legal help, you ensure independent oversight that will prevent the long-term care facility from continuing the behavior — and make it much harder for them to sweep it under the rug.
How Negligent Infection Cases against Long-Term Care Facilities in Florida Work
If your loved one died or was injured due to outrageous conduct by the facility owners, you likely have a solid chance of proving that their actions were negligent or abusive. What exactly does “outrageous conduct” mean?
Ultimately, many of these claims come down to facility operators trying to maximize their profit by skimping on the resources residents need. In some cases, they may even be involved in illegal schemes that funnel money out of the facility.
What happens when there is not enough money to run a facility properly?
- Not enough staff to adequately care for residents
- High staff turnover ratio
- Lack of training (no pandemic response plan)
- Inadequate safety protocols (failure to reasonably sanitize, failure to quarantine, treatment delays, lack of proper screening before entry, allowing an infected employee or visitor entrance to the facility, inadequate N95 masks, failure to group infected patients to protect the uninfected)
The issues that you will need to prove in your case will depend upon the specifics of the situation, but the end goal should be to blame the shoulders of the owners rather than hard-working staff members trying to do their best in a bad situation. Your loved one suffered due to systemic errors that would not have existed but for the greed of those at the top.
The Winston Law Firm Can Help You Get Justice for Your Aging Loved One
In some situations, laws have been enacted that attempt to shield or limit the liability of long-term care facilities. Because of this, it is even more critical to make sure that you work with a Florida injury lawyer who understands the value of keeping up-to-date about such laws, rules, and regulations. Moreover, you must be aware of the statute of limitations in cases like these and file your claim before time runs out.
Bottom line? Nursing homes and other skilled care facilities have a duty of care to their residents. If they fail in that duty in any way and it results in harm, they should be held responsible for their actions, and those hurt should get fair and just compensation.
Unfortunately, this rarely happens without experienced legal help. So do not try to take on your loved one’s nursing home on your own. Contact our office as soon as possible, and we will fight tooth and nail to help you get the justice you deserve.
It starts with you reaching out. To set up your free initial consultation today, email contact@winstonlaw.com or call 954-606-6606 or 866-306-9606 (toll-free).
