For a family whose loved one resides at a New York nursing home, recognizing signs of elder abuse may trigger a range of strong emotions, from fear to betrayal to confusion. You want to keep your loved one safe from harm, but you don’t necessarily know what steps to take, and in what order, to accomplish that goal.
As experienced elder abuse lawyers, our team at Dalli & Marino, LLP understands the difficulty and stress of your situation. We strongly advise that you consult with a skilled attorney as soon as possible. In a free consultation, we can quickly assess your concerns and explain your options for ensuring your loved one’s safety and well-being. Here’s an overview of further steps to take if you start to recognize the signs of elder abuse for your loved one.
Steps to Take If You Notice the Signs of Elder Abuse
If you start to see signs of potential abuse for your loved one or another resident at a New York nursing home, some steps you should take include:
Take Emergency Measures
If you believe elder abuse at your loved one’s nursing home puts their life or health in immediate danger, you may need to take emergency measures to get them out of harm’s way. That might include steps like:
- Arranging for the immediate transfer of your loved one to a different facility
- Removing your loved one from the facility and taking them home with you
- Contacting law enforcement to request assistance or report criminal activity
These can feel like extreme and drastic steps, but some circumstances of elder abuse can make them necessary. If you need to take these measures, an experienced elder abuse lawyer can provide critical assistance to make sure things move quickly and correctly.
Raise Concerns With the Nursing Home
In some instances, approaching the nursing home’s staff or management to discuss your concerns can lead to a positive outcome. If you know the exact source of the elder abuse — a specific nursing home employee, for example — your complaint could resolve the problem immediately.
However, be careful, as your concerns could fall on deaf ears or, worse, encourage the home to cover up its misdeeds or destroy evidence. Speaking with an attorney beforehand helps you evaluate this option.
Speak to a Government Regulator
Nursing homes operate subject to strict local, state, and federal regulations governing the quality of care they must provide. The New York State Department of Health (NYDOH) oversees compliance with those rules. Filing an official complaint about concerns of elder abuse at a New York nursing home may help start an investigation of the nursing home’s conduct.
Pursue Legal Action for Damages and Other Remedies
New York law generally entitles victims of elder abuse to sue their abusers or others at fault for the abuse for monetary damages and other forms of relief.
By taking legal action, an injured elder abuse victim can often secure payment for their:
- Medical expenses related to treating abuse-related injuries and health problems
- Costs of relocating to a new nursing home
- Other expenses and financial losses resulting from acts of elder abuse
- Physical pain and discomfort
- Emotional suffering
- Diminished quality of life
If elder abuse results in a New York nursing home resident’s untimely death, the victim’s surviving spouse or family members may have the right to sue for wrongful death. Proven instances of elder abuse may also justify New York courts in awarding additional, punitive damages to punish the at-fault nursing home.
Doing Nothing Is Not an Option
Any step you take to protect your loved one’s health, safety, and well-being at a New York nursing home is a step in the right direction. Elder abuse constitutes a heinous betrayal of the trust you and your loved one placed in a nursing home staff and management. No nursing home should be permitted to engage in conduct that purposefully or negligently harms its residents.
Your actions can make a difference, especially if you have an experienced elder abuse lawyer by your side who knows how to navigate the confusing and complicated waters of complaining about elder abuse. We encourage you to contact an attorney as soon as possible, even if you have nothing more than a gut feeling that something’s wrong at your loved one’s nursing home. By seeking legal help quickly, you might save your loved one and others from further abuse.
Contact an Experienced Elder Abuse Attorney at Dalli & Marino, LLP Today
No one wants to believe that the New York nursing home they’ve trusted to care for their loved one has instead engaged in unforgivable elder abuse. Unfortunately, violence, exploitation, and neglect occur more frequently at care facilities than anyone would like to admit. And it often falls to concerned family members to put a stop to it.
Dalli & Marino, LLP is a law firm with years of experience advocating for victims of elder abuse in New York. We invite you to connect with us and our Spanish-speaking lawyers for a free consultation to discuss your concerns about potential elder abuse at a New York nursing home. Don’t wait. Contact us or call (888) 465-8790 now.
