What Types of Compensation Are Available for Victims of Nursing Home Abuse?
Nursing home abuse or neglect is an all-too-common occurrence in Virginia. We trust nursing home facilities to take care of our loved ones at the end of their lives. But nursing home residents remain particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect. This can inflict a wide range of physical and mental harm. If your loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse, you may be entitled to pursue financial compensation and accountability.
What Is Nursing Home Abuse?
Nursing home abuse refers to the careless, reckless, or wanton actions committed by nursing home caretakers and staff at nursing home facilities that lead to a resident’s physical or mental harm. Nursing home abuse may be committed intentionally or unintentionally.
Nursing home abuse can occur due to issues such as poor hiring and training practices, understaffing of facilities, and staff burnout. These factors may lead some staffers to take their frustrations out on or take advantage of vulnerable residents.
Nursing home abuse can come in many different forms, including:
- Physical abuse, such as slapping, punching, pinching, pulling, shaking, pushing, or kicking a resident.
- Emotional abuse, such as berating, belittling, or threatening a residence, or yelling or cursing at a resident.
- Sexual abuse, including rape, unwanted sexual contact, or exposing a resident for sexual gratification.
- Financial abuse, including theft of a resident’s belongings, making unauthorized charges to or withdrawals from a resident’s bank accounts, or improperly influencing the resident to make changes to their financial accounts or estate plan to benefit the abuser.
- Neglect, or failing to provide a resident with the necessary care to ensure their health and safety.
Who Might Be Responsible?
Although nursing home abuse is typically committed by individuals, multiple parties may be responsible for the harm caused by the abuse, including:
- Staff members who engaged in the abuse;
- Staff members who witnessed the abuse but consciously decided not to act; or
- Nursing home management and owners who may be responsible for negligent behavior, such as hiring unsafe staff members, failing to train staff, or intentionally understaffing a facility.
What Types of Compensation Are Available?
When your loved one has suffered due to nursing home abuse, your loved one and your family may be entitled to recover compensation :
Compensation can result from a settlement or a verdict. Compensation from a settlement is agreed to by both parties during negotiations. The case is settled “out of court.”
Alternatively, compensation from a verdict refers to damages awarded at trial. Whether damages for nursing home neglect come from a settlement or verdict depends on whether you can reach an agreement with the other party before trial.
The types of compensation available for victims of nursing home neglect depend on each case. There are two main types of damages: economic damages and noneconomic damages. Economic damages are easily calculated because they are quantifiable. Examples include the following:
- Medical expenses (e.g., hospital stays, doctor visits, medications, surgeries, rehabilitation, and therapy),
- Costs of moving your loved one to a new nursing facility,
- Expenses your family incurred to care for your loved one prior to them moving to a new facility, and
- Reimbursement of damaged or stolen property
Compensation based on economic damages is based on the evidence provided in the record. Examples include hospital bills and medical invoices.
Noneconomic damages, on the other hand, are not easily quantifiable. These include physical pain and emotional distress that resulted from the neglect.
If your loved one loses their life due to nursing home abuse, your family might also be entitled to seek compensation for:
- Funeral and burial expenses;
- Estate administration costs;
- Loss of your loved one’s companionship, guidance, and affection; and
- Emotional trauma caused by your loved one’s passing.
No compensation can right the wrong done to your loved one. But our nursing home neglect team at The Law Firm of Carlton F. Bennett, P.L.L.C., will fight to get justice and ease the financial burden.
View Our Case Results
Every nursing home malpractice case is different. So while we do not guarantee the same results for your case, here are some examples of our case results:
- Nursing home malpractice settlement for a femur fracture: $315,000
- Wrongful death from an incident at a nursing home: $325,000
- Assisted living facility negligence jury verdict: $439,803.75
- Assisted living sexual assault jury verdict: $750,000
With nearly 50 years of experience, The Law Firm of Carlton F. Bennett, P.L.L.C. prides itself on our endless dedication to protecting the rights of nursing home neglect victims.
How a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Could Help
Has a loved one been harmed by nursing home abuse or neglect? An experienced lawyer can help your loved one and your family by:
- Helping you to protect your loved one from the immediate threat of injury or other harm,
- Assisting you with removing your loved one from an unsafe nursing facility and moving them to a safer living situation,
- Investigating the alleged abuse to recover evidence needed to prove your family’s claim,
- Communicating with the nursing home and their insurers to try to reach a settlement that provides fair compensation and accountability, and
- Pursuing your loved one’s and your family’s rights in court or at trial if necessary.
If your loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect contact the Virginia Beach nursing home abuse lawyers at The Law Firm of Carlton F. Bennett, P.L.L.C., for a free, confidential, no-obligation consultation.
Carlton Bennett has more than 47 years of experience securing compensation for injured victims. He has the skills and knowledge needed to help you pursue financial recovery and justice for your loved one. Call our firm today at (757) 453-1805 or get in touch with us online. We’re ready to help.
