![Nursing Home Abuse Could Result in Lawsuits](/images/articles2/Elder-abuse-nursing-home-wheelchair-art-3.jpg)
Because of an alleged lack of movement from the state regulatory authority (Texas Department of Aging and Disability), some families are now turning to the courts to resolve complaints of abuse and neglect against nursing homes. Among complaints against various Texas nursing homes are neglect that led to widespread infections; hitting, slapping, pinching and pushing home residents; and dropping patients.
When abuse is committed at the hands of a care home employee, the home may be held liable for the employee’s actions, especially if administration did not take adequate steps to prevent or stop the abuse. But administration can be held liable even when abuse is committed by one resident against another, as in a care center in Des Moines, where an administrator could be deemed professionally incompetent for not protecting residents from a fellow resident who had sexual assault convictions.
READ MORE CARE CENTER ABUSE LEGAL NEWS
Meanwhile, a survey of 2,000 nursing home residents found that 44 percent said they were abused and 95 percent said they had either been neglected or seen another resident neglected, while more than 50 percent of nursing home staff admitted they had mistreated an older patient.
The National Center on Elder Abuse further reports that physical abuse is the number one most common abuse in nursing homes, followed by resident-to-resident abuse, psychological abuse and gross neglect.