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Speaking up when you fear nursing home abuse or neglect

Sometimes when a loved one is living in a Virginia nursing home family members feel almost powerless to help when they suspect something is wrong. Instead of worrying about whether or not your loved one is receiving adequate, appropriate care, take action to ensure that their needs are being met.

If you suspect that your loved one is being abused or neglected in a Virginia nursing home, you may be reluctant to speak up for fear that the staff will take it out on your loved one. Unfortunately, for this reason many family members don’t voice their suspicions nor do they try to do anything about the sub-standard care a resident may be receiving.

Remember that nursing home residents have basic rights and deserve humane, caring treatment. However, all too often some long term care facilities take advantage of elderly residents and don’t give them quite the care or attention that they deserve. Some common rights that can be lost by nursing home residents include:

Privacy when sleeping
Freedom to leave when they want when they want to visit friends or family
The ability to decide what to eat
Privacy while bathing
Freedom to select what they eat
Control of their personal finances
The right to select a specific doctor
The right to make their own decisions about medical care and treatment

You should not hesitate to make your concerns known if you suspect abuse or neglect. After all, without your voice your loved one will continue to be abused or neglected until somebody else steps in to make it stop. Keep these suggestions from AARP in mind when approaching a long-term care facility about your concerns:

Use the care planning conference to discuss problems with staff; this meeting creates a natural setting to address concerns without raising them to the level of a formal complaint.
When filing a complaint about a staff member to a supervisor, share concerns about retaliation against your loved one.
Use the group support of the family council to more effectively solve problems in the nursing home.

If you suspect that your loved one is being abused in a nursing home, there are signs that you can look out for. Read more about this in our library article, “Signs of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation” and “Virginia Adult and Elder Abuse and Neglect Statistics”.

To speak with an experienced attorney about suspected elder care abuse or neglect please contact the lawyers at the Norfolk office of Weisberg & Zaleski to review your options for no cost or obligation.

Weisberg & Zaleski, P.C.

112 College Place

Norfolk, VA 23510

Toll Free: (800) 690-0235

Phone: (757) 622-7740

Fax: (757) 533-9223

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Weisberg & Zaleski, P.C.
112 College Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
Phone: (757) 622-7740
Fax: (757) 533-9223
Toll Free: (800) 690-0235
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