General Information about Nursing Home Injuries

When an elderly person enters a nursing home's care, most people assume they will be treated with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Nursing homes do not always tend to their patients as they should. A majority of nursing home residents, to their detriment, rely on nursing home employees to provide them with basic needs such as food, water, medicine, daily hygiene, bathroom assistance and social activities.

Unfortunately, there are many nursing home residents who have suffered severe injuries or death as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect. Current estimates indicate that more that 800,000 older and developmentally disable individuals, cared for by family members or other community-based caregivers, are subject to physical and mental abuse, neglect and exploitation. Numerous experts claim the number abused is dramatically higher. Nursing homes are considered "health care providers" and are subject to medical liability for negligent treatment, lack of treatment, or other claimed departure from accepted standards of medical care which results in injury to or death of the patient.