It’s been just over a year since Beacon Shores Nursing and Rehabilitation Center landed on the “worst nursing homes list” generated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Beacon Shores, which is located on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), was one of the three nursing homes in the state to land on the infamous list.
The facilities listed did not provide proper care to their residents and numerous reports of negligence and even abuse were cited.
A common form of nursing home abuse our law firm has encountered is overmedication. This is when nursing home employees decide to gratuitously medicate a patient in order to prevent them from “causing trouble.” This is absolutely unacceptable and highly illegal.
There are even instances of physical abuse in nursing homes. Our firm has dealt with situations like this and it’s always infuriating. As a personal injury lawyer, I can’t stand it when nursing home employees physically harm citizens trying to enjoy their golden years.
According to the Virginia Department of Health Regulation (12 VAC 5-371-10) nursing home abuse is defined as the “willful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment with resulting physical harm, pain or mental anguish, or deprivation by an individual, including caretaker, of goods or services that are necessary to attain or maintain physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being to include verbal, sexual, physical or mental abuse.”
Nursing home neglect is defined as “a failure to provide timely and consistent services, treatment or care to a resident or residents’ health safety or comfort, or a failure to provide timely and consistent goods and services necessary to avoid physical harm, mental anguish or mental illness.”
If you, or a loved one, are in a nursing home, or looking into residing at a nursing home, take the time to properly research facilities. There are services which provide vital information about the facilities and service in nursing homes located throughout Virginia (VA) and other states. Be on the look out for these signs and more:
- Cuts, bruises, broken bones, sprains, or other physical signs that they are being hit or neglected.
- Poor hygiene – dirty hair or soiled sheets
- Dirty rooms
- Insect infestation
- Malnutrition or dehydration, or lack of proper amounts of food when you visit during meal times.
- Weight loss
If you feel abuse has taken place, or is currently taking place, seek legal counsel immediately.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.
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