As seniors grow older, their family members often become responsible for their wellbeing and care. With full-time jobs and families, becoming a caregiver for an elder loved one is not always a viable option. Older people often require specialized care that only a medical professional can administer. Nursing homes are a respected option for families who have elders who can no longer take care of themselves. While these facilities do have benefits, far too often, older people can become victim to the system.

Elders are often easy targets. In fact, 10% of people aged 60 years or older have faced some form of elder abuse. The statistics of abuse go up with elders with mental impairments such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Abuse also comes in many forms. Examples are physical, emotional, neglect, isolation, and exploitation.

It is important when visiting a loved one in a nursing home, to look out for signs of abuse. Some forms of abuse, such as emotional or financial, may not be obvious but are just as harmful as visual physical abuse.

When people think of car accidents, their first thought might be a major head-on collision on a public road such as a highway. But, as a driver, you know how chaotic a busy parking lot can be. There are cars fitted into small spaces, drivers coming at every which way, pedestrians walking in between cars, and other physical barriers such as shopping carts. These are more commonly minor and nonfatal accidents, but car accidents in a parking lot can be caused by negligence like any other situation.

The following are common parking lot accidents:

• Backing into Each Other: Two drivers can collide when both are in reverse. This happens when neither drivers are looking behind them, and so both are technically at fault.
• Merging into Traffic Lane: A person pulling out of a space may not be looking while preparing to merge into ongoing traffic. Although both cars were likely moving in this scenario, the driver pulling out of the parking space is most likely at fault. In the traffic lane of a parking lot where people get to their spots, the driver in the lane has the right of way. When a person backs into that lane, they are most likely at fault for not looking before putting their car in reverse.
• Rear End at Stop Sign: Stop signs are placed in parking lots to allow for pedestrians to safely walk, and to keep drivers at a reasonable speed. If a person rear ends you at one of these stop signs, they were likely not paying attention, or going too fast.

The biggest issues being parking lot accidents are speeding and distracted driving. Going over five miles per hour in a parking lot can be dangerous with so much going on around. It may feel safer to check your phone or adjust the GPS in a parking lot, but it is still important to pay attention like you would on the road. Being mindful in a parking lot, and these steps and will help prevent car accidents in parking lots.

With a family and career of your own, it may be challenging to take care of your elderly parent like they took care of you growing up. Additionally, elders can have health concerns that are difficult to manage in a home environment without hiring a nurse or other medical aid. Nursing homes are supposed to be safe places where older people can get the care they need around the clock. Unfortunately, nursing home abuse and neglect is a potential issue that can occur, and it is important to be aware of these risks when your loved one is in someone else’s care. 

The mistreatment of elders is a serious problem. It is estimated that upwards of two million seniors over the age of 65 have faced some sort of abuse or neglect in the United States. Those odds are concerning if you have an older loved one in the care of someone else, so it is important to be aware of the risks that your family member might be abused or neglected. Some common nursing home negligence issues include:

• Bedrails - Just as protection is needed to keep an infant or young child from falling out of bed, rails on beds are also commonly seen in nursing homes. They are also helpful for additional support while a person is sitting up or adjusting their position in the bed. However, it can be easy to slip into the space between the bed and the rail if the rails are not properly installed or are too large for the bed. This can lead to fall injuries or asphyxiation. 
• Bedsores - Bedsores, or pressure ulcers, appear when blood flow to the skin is decreased due to the pressure of an object against the skin. They more commonly appear on parts of the body with less muscle and fat, such as the elbows, ankles, heels, and tailbone, and they can occur when a patient is bed or wheelchair bound. On patients who have mobility restrictions, it is important for nursing home staff to practice preventative care to avoid bedsores. 
• Infections - The elderly have a higher chance of getting sick due to weaker immune systems, and poor care or improper sanitation can lead to deadly infections. Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in nursing homes, and patients who use feeding tubes are most likely to contract it.  

Contact an Aurora Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

Your elderly loved one deserves the best possible care. When nursing home staff are being careless and negligent, that compromises the health and safety of your family member. If you believe a nursing home has been the cause of your loved one’s injury or death, contact an experienced Kane County nursing neglect attorney to discuss your case. Call our office at 630-907-0909 to schedule a free consultation.

The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, and the last thing on your mind should be a personal injury lawsuit. Unfortunately, accidents do happen, even during the most wonderful time of the year. Tripping or falling over Christmas lights of your own doing is one thing, but what if your injury is caused by the negligence of someone else?

What is Negligence?

Negligence is when a person could have done something to prevent an unfortunate outcome but did not, either due to ignorance or laziness. For example, if a store owner refuses to clean up a spill and someone ends up getting hurt, the injured party is considered a victim of negligence.

Most Common Injuries During the Christmas Season

During 2011 through 2015, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission reported over 1,700 Christmas related injuries in 100 hospitals. Here are a collection of those common Christmas injuries.

The decision to place an elderly parent or another family member in a nursing home is often made with best intentions. Common tasks may become impossible for your elderly loved one to complete, and a nursing home can provide around-the-clock care to make them more comfortable. You may feel guilty for not being able to provide the care yourself, but nursing homes have health professionals that are experienced in the needs of elderly people.

You want to think that your loved one is safe in your nursing home of choice, but one out of ten elders experience some form of neglect in a nursing home.

There are four main types of neglect that are seen in a nursing home: