Oregon Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect Lawyers – Bend | Portland | Eugene | Salem Attorneys

When you place a loved one in a nursing home, you trust the facility’s medical staff to do their jobs and provide the medical care and attention your parent or family member needs.  While most medical care facilities do an excellent job caring for loved ones, others may be understaffed or hire and retain health aids that neglect or outright abuse residents.

Types of Nursing Home Abuse

While care facility neglect and abuse can take many forms, below are the most common issues that arise in nursing homes.

• Dehydration
• bed sores and pressure ulcers
• falls
• broken bones
• head injuries
• restraints
• physical and sexual abuse
• medication errors
• nurse and physician negligence
• understaffed facility
• wrongful death

Oregon Nursing Home Patient Rights

Under Oregon and federal law, residents of nursing homes and other extended care facilities have protected rights that cannot be waived or neglected by nursing homes.  The Oregon Legislature has extensively outlined each and every nursing home right that patients have in Oregon.

Some of the your or your loved one’s rights include:

• The right to be treated with dignity and respect when receiving care.
• The right to receive services in the facility with reasonable accommodations for the resident’s needs.
• The right to receive the appropriate medical and personal care based on the resident’s individual needs.
• The right to be cared for with reasonable regularity.
• The right to look at their medical or care records.
• The right to be provided information about their treatment and to participate and discuss treatment and alternatives with individual care givers and the right to include a family member or other chosen representative to participate in these meetings.
• The right to refuse treatment, medication, and dietary restrictions and to be informed of the likely medical or psychological consequences of refusal.
• The right to communicate with their immediate family or other relatives  or representatives or those visiting with your consent.  For more information on patient rights, you can view the statute  Department of Human Service’s website.

Signs of Nursing Home Abuse

While it may be difficult to discovery nursing abuse or neglect, there are signs that may indicate it is occurring, such as:

• The resident may refuse to talk in front of care providers or attendants;
• Poor hygiene;
• Bed sores;
• Rapid weight loss;
• Unexplained cuts, bruises, infections;
• Sudden financial distress

Basis for Nursing Home Abuse Claims

A nursing home abuse lawyer can help you to determine if you have a basis for a claim against your loved one’s nursing home.  Frequent claims pursued against nursing homes include the following:

• Negligent Hiring
• Failure to Train Employees Care providers
• Medication Errors
• Neglect
• Assault and Battery

Proving Nursing Home Abuse

Proving nursing home abuse can sometimes be difficult as often the resident is suffering from some diminished mental capacity which is why they may be in the facility to begin with or may simply be too frightened to tell others about what has occurred. If you suspect that your loved one has been the victim of nursing abuse, you should talk to them immediately and express your concerns. Additionally, be sure to take photographs of any unexplained bruises or injuries and notes summarizing your conversations with care providers and other staff.

Nursing Home Neglect

If you suspect that your family member or loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, do not delay, contact an attorney immediately and consider reporting your concerns of abuse to the Oregon Department of Human Services.  Contact Bend, Central Oregon nursing home abuse lawyer Christopher Kuhlman at Kuhlman Law, LLC at (541) 385-1999 for a free initial consultation.