Elder Care

February 3, 2023

New Study Addresses Wildfire Hazards and California Nursing Home Safety

Are California nursing homes in San Diego County prepared to keep residents safe in the event of a wildfire? According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, nursing homes in California where wildfires are a risk or ill-prepared for these emergencies and for other emergency situations that may arise. More specifically, nursing homes in areas that are likely to be affected by wildfires are often out of compliance with the emergency preparedness standards required by Medicare, putting residents throughout the facilities at risk of a wide range of injuries in the event of an emergency situation. What do you need to know about the study and its implications for nursing home neglect and injuries in nursing homes in Southern California? Our San Diego nursing home neglect lawyers can say more.

Details of the Recent Nursing Home Emergency Preparedness Study

The article stems from an analysis conducted by researchers at Yale University. As background to the study, the authors indicated that they were interested in assessing the “relationship between the risk of exposure to environmental hazards and the emergency preparedness of nursing homes” since this relationship is not well known or well studied.

January 20, 2023

Mental Health and Los Angeles County Nursing Home Abuse

by Walton Law Firm

Many people assume that the term nursing home abuse in Los Angeles County refers to situations in which staff members intentionally inflict physical harm upon residents through unnecessary physical restraints, burning, kicking, hitting, slapping, and other forms of physical violence. However, it is essential to know that there are many different forms of nursing home abuse, and the signs or symptoms of certain types of neglect may cause significant damage to a senior’s mental health. What should you know about the various forms of nursing home abuse that can occur and how they can impact an older adult’s mental health?

Physical Abuse Can Affect Mental Health

Physical abuse does not just cause physical harm — it can affect a nursing home resident’s mental health and well-being, as well. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains, forms of physical abuse can result in depression and other mental health consequences.

October 28, 2022

Nursing Home Neglect and Infections in San Diego County

by Walton Law Firm

Nursing home neglect can take many different forms in San Diego County. In some cases, a senior in a nursing home or assisted living facility might be harmed as a result of willful deprivation, where a staff member refuses to provide the senior with the medications, medical devices, or care they need. Under most circumstances, however, nursing home neglect is not intentional. Rather, injuries arising out of neglect in Southern California result from issues like understaffing, lack of appropriate training for staff members, and ultimately, a failure for an elderly nursing home resident to receive the care they need without any intention by the facility to cause harm. Yet just because a nursing home or assisted living facility in San Diego County does not intend to cause injuries or any other type of harm does not mean that the facility cannot be held accountable.

Infections are one type of harm for which nursing homes and assisted living facilities in San Diego County can be liable if any infection results from negligence. Our San Diego County nursing home negligence attorneys can provide you with more information.

Nursing Homes Have a Duty to Prevent Infections

September 1, 2022

Risk Factors for Nursing Home Abuse Injuries in San Diego County

by Walton Law Firm

Nursing home abuse injuries can affect any resident of a nursing home in San Diego County or elsewhere in Southern California, regardless of age, sex, or health condition. However, it is important to know that there are risk factors that can make it more likely that a nursing home resident will be subject to nursing home abuse or neglect. To be clear, the fact that a nursing home resident has one or more of the most common risk factors for abuse does not necessarily mean that the resident will be subject to abuse, but that they are at greater risk for harm from abuse or neglect. Consider some of the following risk factors that could make elder abuse or neglect in a nursing home more likely.

Physical Health Issues

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), physical health and mobility issues are common risk factors for nursing home abuse. When an older adult requires assistance with physical care, mobility, and activities of daily living (ADLs), that older adult is more likely to be subject to abuse or passive neglect. Activities of daily living can include dressing and eating, but they can also include bathing and bathroom assistance. Not only can these seniors be at greater risk for acts of intentional physical or emotional abuse, but they can also be more likely to suffer injuries if they do not receive the level of care they need.

June 10, 2022

I Am Concerned About Abuse in My Parent’s Los Angeles County Nursing Home: Now What?

by Walton Law Firm

Nobody should ever have to fear that an elderly parent or relative is being subjected to physical or emotional abuse in a nursing home, or that a loved one is experiencing pain and suffering because of neglect in a skilled nursing facility. Given that nursing homes want to make money and want to keep patients at their facilities, it can often be difficult to get a straight answer from a facility when you have concerns about abuse or neglect. If you are concerned about abuse in your parent’s nursing home, what should you do?

Understand the Signs of Nursing Home Abuse in its Varied Forms

First, be sure you know some of the common signs of nursing home abuse and neglect, recognizing the nursing home negligence can take many different forms. The National Council on Aging (NCOA) cites some of the following as common indicators of abuse or neglect:

May 13, 2022

Five Things to Know About Nursing Home Psychological Abuse in Orange County

by Walton Law Firm

Psychological and emotional abuse happens much too often in nursing homes in Orange County, and it is important to hold the facility accountable for any harm it has caused. In order to file a nursing home abuse claim arising out of psychological abuse, it is important to understand more about this type of abuse and how it shows up in patients. The following are five things you should know about psychological and emotional abuse in Orange County.

Psychological or Emotional Abuse is a Form of Nursing Home Abuse

While psychological or emotional abuse does not involve the infliction of physical pain, or the deprivation of food or medical care, it is certainly a form of nursing home abuse that happens more often than many people might think. The National Council on Aging (NCOA) explains that it can involve verbal assaults, threats, harassment, intimidation, or behaviors designed to embarrass an elderly nursing home resident.

April 1, 2022

Nursing Home Red Flags in Los Angeles County

by Walton Law Firm

Choosing the best nursing home for an elderly loved one can be a difficult task. Although some information about nursing home ratings and previous safety violations can be located, recent reports suggest that information is often incomplete, or even worse, that it may be incorrect and misleading. Moreover, you cannot always know for certain whether a facility will pose injury risks to its residents based on its history. While a history of safety violations should certainly be a cause for concern, even skilled nursing facilities with clear records can be places where elderly residents sustain serious and life-threatening injuries.

How can you know what to look for in a nursing home? More often than not, it is important to know what you should not see at a nursing home or assisted-living facility. According to U.S. News & World Report, it is more important than ever to be able to recognize red flags at nursing homes. The following are red flags that should raise concern.

High Rate of Infections and Deaths From COVID-19

February 18, 2022

What You Should Know About Hip Fracture Injuries in Riverside County Nursing Homes

by Walton Law Firm

Hip fractures can happen almost anywhere in Riverside County when an older adult falls or slips, but hip fractures can be particularly common in nursing home settings when seniors do not have proper care or when facilities fail to maintain the premises in a manner that is safe for its residents. While hip fractures often heal fully when they occur in younger people, a hip fracture in an older adult can be devastating. Indeed, hip fractures in the elderly can have disastrous consequences, resulting in decreased mobility and the need for care for the rest of a person’s life.

Our Riverside County nursing home neglect lawyers want to provide you with more information about hip fractures among older adults in Riverside County nursing homes.

Hip Fractures Happen Most Often Because of Falls

September 17, 2021

Should I Report Nursing Home Abuse in San Diego County or Initiate a Lawsuit?

by Walton Law Firm

Monitoring an elderly loved one’s safety and well-being in a San Diego County nursing home can be exhausting, and it is not a role that friends and family members should have to fill. However, given that nursing home abuse and neglect is unfortunately common in Southern California skilled nursing facilities. As such, it is often necessary to learn about the signs and symptoms of various forms of nursing home abuse and neglect when you have an elderly parent or other older relative who lives in a nursing home or assisted-living facility. Yet it can be difficult to know what you should do if you are worried about abuse when you see potential signs of negligence, abuse, or neglect. Should you report the abuse? Should you investigate further yourself? Should you seek advice from a San Diego County nursing home abuse attorney?

Many people feel uncomfortable initiating an investigation of any type in the event they are mistaken about abuse. Yet it is critical to remember that it is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to addressing concerns about nursing home abuse and neglect in Southern California. Generally speaking, you should not decide between reporting the abuse to authorities and initiating a lawsuit. Instead, you should be thinking about reporting your concerns and seeking advice from an attorney who can help.

Seeking Advice From a Nursing Home Abuse Attorney in San Diego County

September 3, 2021

Drug-Resistant Fungus in Los Angeles County Nursing Homes

by Walton Law Firm

For over a year now, families have been worried about elderly loved ones residing in Los Angeles County nursing homes due to the spread of COVID-19 and the number of deaths in skilled nursing facilities. Yet when it comes to infection-control measures in Southern California nursing homes, COVID-19 is not the only issue that can result in serious injury and death to nursing home residents. Indeed, just as the pandemic is beginning to get under control through vaccines, health officials are identifying the rise of serious drug-resistant fungal infections in America’s nursing homes. According to a recent article in The New York Times, “a deadly, hard-to-treat fungal infection . . . has been spreading through nursing homes and hospitals across the United States,” and it is “becoming even more dangerous.”

Drug-Resistant Fungal Infection Evades All Medication

The most worrying recent issue concerning this drug-resistant fungus, Candida auris (or C. auris), is that several cases have been documented in which the infection “was completely impervious to all existing medication,” according to The New York Times article. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the drug resistance recently documented is “an alarming development in the evolution of C. auris.” The CDC describes it as “a tenacious yeast infection discovered in Japan in 2009 that has since spread across much of the world.”