Colorado Nursing Home Injury Attorneys

Federal and Colorado state laws protect nursing home residents.  The Federal Nursing Home Reform Act  created a national minimum set of standards of care and rights for people living in certified nursing / long term care facilities.  It provides that all residents of nursing homes are entitled to receive quality care and live in an environment that improves or maintains the quality of their physical and mental health.   This entitlement includes freedom from neglect and freedom from abuse.   The Act requires nursing homes to promote and protect the rights of each resident.   In addition, nursing homes must meet federal residents’ rights requirements if they participate in Medicare or Medicaid.  Further, all Colorado nursing homes are licensed by the state and subject to the Bill of Rights for nursing home residents.

Despite these protections, neglect and abuse do occur.  The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that at least 1 in 20 nursing home patients has been the victim of negligence or abuse.  Whatever form it may take, nursing home neglect and abuse must be stopped.   The first step is recognizing what constitutes neglect or abuse of the elderly.

Types of Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse
Neglect.   Neglect is a failure to care for a person in a manner which would avoid harm and pain, or the failure to react to a situation which may be harmful.  It is a failure of a caretaker to execute the degree of care expected from a person in their position.  Neglect may or may not be intentional.   For example, a caring aide who is poorly trained may not know how to provide care.   Examples include:

•Incorrect body positioning, which can lead to limb contractures, skin breakdown and bedsores
•Improperly restraining residents
•Lack of toileting or changing disposable briefs, which can lead to incontinence, increased falls, agitation, indignity and skin breakdown
•Lack of assistance eating and drinking, which can lead to malnutrition and dehydration
•Lack of bathing, which can lead to indignity and poor hygiene
•Poor handwashing, which can lead to unnecessary infections
•Ignoring call bells or cries for help
•Other signs include: bedsores, weight loss, ulcerated wounds, poor hygiene, malnutrition, medication errors, and dehydration Abuse. Abuse means causing intentional pain or harm.  This includes physical, mental, verbal, psychological, and sexual abuse, corporal punishment, unreasonable seclusion, and intimidation.  Examples include:

•Physical abuse from a staff member or an intruder or visitor from outside the facility, including hitting, pinching, shoving, force-feeding, scratching, slapping and spitting
•Psychological or emotional abuse, such as berating, ignoring, ridiculing, or cursing a resident, threats of punishment or deprivation
•Isolation from friends and family
•Sexual abuse, including improper touching or coercion to perform sexual acts
•Substandard care which often results in one or more of the following conditions: immobilization, incontinence, dehydration, pressure sores, and depression
•Rough handling during giving, medicine administration, or moving a resident
•Other signs of elderly abuse is often displayed through sucking or biting, as well as unexplained open wounds, broken bones, cuts, bruises, burns and over-sedation.
Remedies.  Remedies available include compensatory damages for economic and non-economic losses and, in appropriate cases, punitive damages to punish and deter the wrongful conduct in the future.

Abuse, Neglect, and Negligence – Nursing Home Risk Factors
Colorado nursing homes vary in their quality and degrees of care, from very good to very poor.  Facility risks to watch for include overcrowding of residents, undertrained, inadequate or excessively absent staff and a lack of communication. Nursing home residents can also make themselves vulnerable to becoming abuse victims by being verbally abusive, overly aggressive or manipulative.  Staffing shortages at assisted living homes is also considered a major contributor to nursing home abuse, neglect, and negligence.

Contact McCormick & Murphy, P.C.

If you think you or a loved one may have been a victim of nursing home neglect or abuse, contact the nursing home abuse attorneys at McCormick & Murphy PC at 719-389-0400 for a free consultation or fill out our free evaluation form.   Our lawyers are experienced in helping residents and their families with nursing home neglect and abuse.   They the knowledge, experience, and passion to hold nursing homes accountable for the harm they cause to the elderly and their families.  Our attorneys are compassionate and proud of the results we have obtained for injured clients.  We are dedicated to teaching nursing home operators that they cannot afford to provide substandard care or allow the abuse or neglect of their patients to persist.

McCormick & Murphy, P.C.

318 S. 8th Street

Colorado Springs, CO 80905

719-389-0400