Understanding Liability In Nursing Home Injury Cases
An experienced lawyer can pursue justice for your loved one
Cases involving nursing home abuse and neglect are rarely simple. Nursing homes are medical facilities, and the laws governing the services they provide are complex. Moreover, the nursing home itself usually controls information that could be used to establish liability. Their priority is to protect themselves, not to provide fair compensation for victims.
Still, if your loved one has been abused or neglected, the nursing home can likely be held liable for their injuries - if you can prove it. That's why you need an experienced nursing home abuse attorney who knows how to establish liability in these cases. You need Johnson Greer Law Group.
Nursing homes can be held liable for staffing, documentation issues
Nursing homes are held to a high legal standard. They owe a duty of care to their residents, who are some of the most vulnerable people in our society, to provide them with a safe environment and all reasonable and necessary nursing services. Here are some ways nursing homes often fail to meet that duty of care:
- Understaffing. Many nursing homes, especially in rural areas, are short-staffed. An understaffed nursing home may not be able to provide residents with the level of care they need, leading to acts of neglect such as failing to turn residents to prevent bedsores. Or staff members may be overworked and exhausted, increasing the risk of abuse or neglect.
- Negligent Hiring: Even if a nursing home hires enough staff, it may not be hiring the right staff. If a nursing home fails to conduct background checks or otherwise vet candidates to make sure they do not have a history of committing abuse, the nursing home may be held liable when acts of abuse are committed.
- Poor Supervision: Nursing homes are required to train their staff appropriately and address any issues that emerge promptly. If a nursing home failed to adequately supervise its staff and an injury can be linked to that lack of supervision, the home can be held accountable.
- Negligent Security: Like any other building accessible to the public, a nursing home needs to be kept secure, and the people who own or manage the property are required to provide that security. We may be able to pursue a negligent security claim if the lack of security led to abuse committed by a visitor, a trespasser or another resident.
In order to hold the nursing home liable, we need to comb through records in search of discrepancies and other critical evidence. We need to interview witnesses and nursing home staff. And we need to do it while the nursing home likely denies any wrongdoing.
Third-party liability can come into play
While the nursing home itself is liable in most abuse cases, that's not always true. In some situations, a third party may be partially or completely liable for an injury sustained in a nursing home. For instance:
- The nursing home might use a third-party contractor to maintain or provide security on the premises, and their negligence led to an injury.
- A supplier or manufacturer may have provided the nursing home with faulty equipment that contributed to an injury.
- A medical provider at a hospital, doctor's office or other outside facility may have abused or neglected your loved one.
When third-party liability is involved in a nursing home abuse case, the legal implications can be even more complicated. That's why it's so important to have an experienced attorney on your side.
If your loved one has sustained an injury in a nursing home, you have legal rights. Hold the negligent parties accountable and pursue justice for your family. Contact our firm to schedule a free consultation.