When we turn over our loved one’s care to a nursing home, we expect the highest standard of care. Unfortunately, that’s not always the reality.
The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that 33% of nursing home residents experience psychological abuse. This includes emotional abuse.
Emotional abuse can be difficult to spot. If you suspect that your loved one is suffering from emotional abuse in Jacksonville, FL, reach out for help. A Jacksonville nursing home emotional abuse lawyer will fight to hold nursing homes and their staff accountable.
Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers can help you get compensation for emotional abuse in Jacksonville, Florida. Call us at (904) 396 1100 to schedule a free consultation with a Jacksonville nursing home emotional abuse attorney today.
How Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help Your Family After Suffering from Emotional Abuse in a Jacksonville Nursing Home
Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers can help you hold nursing homes responsible in Jacksonville, FL. We have over 80 years of combined experience and have recovered tens of millions of dollars for our clients.
When you hire us to get justice, our Jacksonville nursing home emotional abuse attorneys will:
- Investigate the nursing home
- Collect evidence
- Calculate your damages
- File insurance claims
- Negotiate with the nursing home for damages
- File a personal injury lawsuit
- Represent you at trial
Our Jacksonville personal injury lawyers are passionate about helping elders. Call us to schedule a free consultation and learn how we can help you, too.
What Is Emotional Abuse?
There are many different types of elder abuse. Emotional abuse occurs when someone intentionally inflicts emotional distress on another person. Emotional distress can be inflicted through verbal and nonverbal behavior.
Examples of emotional abuse in nursing homes may include:
- Belittling
- Threats of intimidation
- Ridicule and insults
- Ignoring patients
- Yelling
- Social isolation
- Threatening to withhold necessities like food or water
While it may seem unimaginable, many nursing home employees perpetrate this type of abuse on their patients every year.
What Are the Signs of Nursing Home Emotional Abuse?
It can be difficult to identify nursing home emotional abuse. Generally, you should pay close attention to the elderly and look for changes in their behavior or demeanor.
Some of the most common signs include:
- Depression or withdrawn behavior
- Insomnia
- Paranoia or confusion
- Increased anxiety
- Sudden lack of confidence
Additionally, there may be signs showing how the nursing home is run or how the staff acts when you are around, including:
- Overworked staff
- Disorganization in the nursing home
- Lack of oversight
- Poor treatment of residents in front of you
- Staff preventing you from visiting a resident
- General hostility or lack of concern about the resident
If you notice any of these signs, you should immediately look into the situation. It may indicate emotional abuse or other types of abuse happening in the nursing home.
If you aren’t sure where to start, a nursing home emotional abuse lawyer can give you advice on how to best protect your loved one.
Why Does Nursing Home Emotional Abuse Happen?
The most common reason that nursing home emotional abuse happens is because staff are overworked and undertrained.
When nursing home staff become overworked, they are less patient with the residents. This can cause them to yell, intimidate, or generally belittle them. Many times, emotional abuse is unintentional, but it is still just as harmful.
When there is a lack of training or oversight in the nursing home, emotional abuse tends to thrive. Intimidation is the only way that the caregivers know how to maintain order or routine within the home.
This is unacceptable. Nursing homes should be providing enough training, resources, and mentorship to make sure that their staff are capable of caring for the residents in a safe and supportive environment.
How Do You Prove Nursing Home Emotional Abuse?
It can be hard to prove nursing home emotional abuse. Unlike physical abuse, there aren’t any bruises, cuts, or other physical evidence.
The best way to prove nursing home emotional abuse is through witness testimony. This includes testimony from family members, friends, and even other staff at the nursing home.
Additionally, medical records, nursing home records, and records of prior complaints may be helpful.
If you think that a loved one is the victim of emotional abuse in a nursing home, you should begin to collect evidence. This evidence can be used to support your case and get justice. If you aren’t sure what type of evidence may exist in your case, a nursing home emotional abuse attorney can provide support.
What Type of Compensation Is Available for Nursing Home Emotional Abuse Victims?
Nursing home emotional abuse victims can get economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are financial losses that happen because of the abuse, including:
- Mental health treatment
- Antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication
- Cost of moving nursing homes
- The increased cost of a new nursing home
- Medical bills
- Property damage
Non-economic damages are non-financial or emotional losses. This is more common in emotional abuse cases where there may not be a physical manifestation of the abuse.
Some common types of non-economic damages are:
- Mental anguish
- Onset of mental illness
- Reduced quality of life
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers can help you calculate and recover damages. Call us to schedule a free consultation today.
Call Our Jacksonville Nursing Home Emotional Abuse Lawyers for Help
It can be hard to stand up to nursing home corporations alone. The Jacksonville nursing home emotional abuse lawyers at Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers are on your side. We can help you identify abuse, collect evidence, and recover damages.
There are few things worse than realizing that your loved one is experiencing emotional abuse from a caregiver. Call our office in Jacksonville, FL, to schedule a free consultation today.
