Many residents of New Mexico are just like you, having to make the tough decision of putting a loved one in a nursing home. You trust that they will be taken care of and that their needs will be met. However, that isn’t always the case.
FindLaw takes a look at both abuse and neglect in a nursing home. Today we’ll focus on neglect, which differs in several ways from what is typically considered abuse. While abuse is the active mistreatment in verbal, emotional or physical ways of the residents at an establishment, neglect can be harder to pin down.
Neglect occurs for several reasons. In some cases, it can overlap with abuse in that a resident is being intentionally neglected by staff. In other cases, it may be unintentional neglect because the staff is too small for the number of residents they have. This can lead to some residents falling through the cracks. In other situations, a nursing home may be attempting to cut corners for costs, which can lead to the neglect of residents.
Two signs of neglect that you can be on the lookout for are dehydration and malnutrition. Either can contribute to the formation of pressure sores. There can also be outward signs like your loved one rapidly losing weight, hair, or the condition of their skin changing. A weight loss of 5 percent or more is considered a possible sign of malnutrition.
In any of these cases, the one suffering is your loved one. Regardless of what has caused it, you could look into seeking compensation to help pay for the damages caused.
