Bridgeport, CT Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyers

Attorneys for Injuries Caused by Nursing Home Negligence in Bridgeport

When families place their elderly loved ones in nursing homes, they expect that professional care will be provided while helping a person maintain safety and dignity. These facilities are responsible for meeting the needs of vulnerable residents who can no longer live independently. When nursing homes do not provide adequate care, the results can be devastating. Neglect and abuse in long-term care facilities can lead to serious injuries and sometimes death, and these issues may affect people who deserve compassionate attention during their final years.

Nursing home negligence can take many forms, from basic failures to provide for the needs of residents to intentional abuse. There are legal remedies for victims and their families, but pursuing these claims requires thorough investigation, strong evidence, and experienced legal representation. At Tremont Sheldon P.C., our lawyers can take steps to hold facilities accountable in situations where loved ones have been injured or killed due to substandard care.

Common Forms of Nursing Home Negligence

Nursing home residents may face risks due to multiple types of neglect and abuse. Issues that may occur due to negligence by a nursing home include:

• Bedsores: Pressure ulcers may develop when immobile residents are not repositioned regularly. These painful wounds progress through stages from reddened skin to deep craters that can expose muscle and bone. Bedsores are almost entirely preventable with proper care. When nursing homes allow residents to develop advanced pressure ulcers, this may demonstrate neglect that took place over days or weeks. Complications from infected bedsores can be life-threatening, particularly when they lead to infections.
• Malnutrition and Dehydration: When a nursing home fails to ensure that residents receive adequate food and fluids, serious harm can occur. Many elderly people need assistance with eating due to physical limitations or cognitive impairments. Understaffed facilities may not be able to provide the assistance needed to help residents eat properly. Weight loss, weakness, confusion, and susceptibility to illness can occur due to inadequate nutrition and hydration. Severe cases may lead to organ failure, hospitalization, and death from entirely preventable causes.
• Medication Errors: When residents receive wrong medications, incorrect doses, or miss scheduled doses, they can suffer serious harm. These mistakes may happen during the prescribing, dispensing, or administration of medications. Overworked nursing home staff may make errors that can cause adverse drug reactions, toxicity, or treatment failures when necessary medications are not given. A lack of proper monitoring may cause dangerous side effects go unrecognized until serious harm occurs.
• Falls: Serious injuries can occur when nursing homes do not use the proper safety measures for at-risk residents. Facilities should assess the fall risk of patients, provide assistance with mobility, install bed alarms and safety rails, provide proper lighting, and respond quickly when residents need help. When these precautions are not taken, residents may suffer hip fractures, head injuries, and other trauma that can be serious or fatal.
• Physical Assault and Abuse: Staff members or other residents may strike, push, or otherwise physically harm vulnerable nursing home residents. Frustrated caregivers may lash out at "difficult" residents. Inadequate supervision may allow aggressive residents to attack others. These incidents can cause immediate physical injuries and psychological trauma that can affect victims profoundly.
• Sexual Assault and Abuse: When facilities fail to protect residents from predatory staff members or other residents, they may suffer both physical and psychological harm. Cognitive impairments and physical disabilities make many nursing home residents unable to resist assault or report abuse. Inadequate background screening, insufficient supervision, and failure to respond to reports may enable these crimes.
• Neglect of Basic Hygiene and Care: When a nursing home does not provide the proper care, residents may be left lying in soiled bedding, go without baths, or experience dental problems that make eating painful. These failures in fundamental care can create conditions where residents develop infections or other health issues and a loss of dignity.
• Failure to Provide Necessary Medical Care: When nursing homes do not recognize medical emergencies, delay calling for help, or fail to follow physician orders for treatment, patients may not receive the treatment they need to prevent serious or fatal injuries. Treatable conditions such as infections, heart problems, and strokes can become fatal when facilities do not ensure residents receive timely medical attention.

Warning Signs of Nursing Home Neglect

Families may look for indicators that loved ones are not receiving adequate care or have been harmed by neglect or abuse. Physical signs may include unexplained bruises or injuries, significant weight loss, bedsores at any stage, poor hygiene, dehydration symptoms, and untreated medical conditions. These observable changes may indicate serious problems with the quality of care provided by a facility.

Behavioral changes can be a sign of abuse or neglect. Residents may become withdrawn, fearful, or agitated. They may resist care, show unusual fear of specific staff members, or exhibit behavioral regression. Depression, crying, or refusal to eat may indicate serious problems.

Environmental conditions at facilities can provide clues about the quality of care. Understaffing with few caregivers available, dirty conditions throughout a facility, residents left alone for extended periods, and staff members who appear rushed or stressed may all suggest inadequate resources for proper care.

How Our Attorneys Can Help Address Nursing Home Negligence

Establishing liability by a nursing home and demonstrating that the facility failed to meet the needs of residents will often require a comprehensive investigation. Our lawyers can obtain complete medical records documenting the care a person received, the injuries they sustained, and the treatments that were provided to them. These records may reveal patterns of neglect, gaps in monitoring, and failures to respond to problems.

Our team will obtain witness testimony from family members who observed the conditions at a nursing home and raised concerns, other residents who witnessed incidents or received inadequate treatment, and former employees who may be willing to describe understaffing or dangerous practices. These firsthand accounts can provide critical evidence about a facility's negligence.

We will investigate facility records, including staffing schedules showing whether adequate staffing levels were maintained, incident reports documenting falls and other problems, care plans revealing whether patients' needs were identified and addressed, and training records showing whether employees received proper education. Our attorneys will also review state inspection reports and complaint histories. Patterns of repeated citations may demonstrate that a nursing home had ongoing problems.

Recovering Compensation for Nursing Home Injuries

Nursing home residents who have been harmed by neglect may take steps to obtain compensation for their damages. This compensation may address medical expenses to treat injuries caused by neglect, pain and suffering from preventable injuries, emotional distress from abuse or neglect, and other costs. Our lawyers will work to ensure that victims can receive the full compensation that will address their current needs and future care requirements.

We will calculate damages comprehensively by working with experts to project a person's future medical needs, determine the full extent of their financial losses, and document their pain and suffering. This thorough approach can help ensure that the compensation paid will reflect the true scope of harm a person has suffered.

Options After Wrongful Death in Nursing Homes

When neglect or abuse contributes to a nursing home resident's death, our lawyers work with families to recover compensation through wrongful death claims. Damages in wrongful death cases may include economic losses such as medical expenses before death and funeral and burial costs. Non-economic damages may compensate a family for loss of companionship and grief or emotional trauma. Pain and suffering the deceased person endured before their death may also be addressed.

Our attorneys can handle all aspects of wrongful death litigation, including investigating the circumstances surrounding a person's death, obtaining autopsy reports and medical records, working with specialists who can establish causation for death, identifying all liable parties, and working to obtain maximum compensation for families. We understand the grief families experience in these situations, and we will provide compassionate support throughout the legal process.

Contact Our Bridgeport, Connecticut Nursing Home Negligence Attorneys

Nursing home neglect and abuse can lead to suffering for vulnerable elderly people who deserve to receive safe, dignified care. When facilities fail to meet their responsibilities, they can be held accountable for the harm caused to residents. At Tremont Sheldon P.C., our attorneys can help families address nursing home negligence, fighting to secure justice and compensation for victims of neglect and abuse. Contact our Bridgeport nursing home neglect and abuse lawyers at 203-335-5145 to schedule a free consultation.