Norfolk Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers

Did Your Loved One Suffer Abuse or Injury at a Norfolk Nursing Home? Our Attorneys Can Help.

Searching for the Right Norfolk Nursing Home Abuse Attorney? This is All We Do.

Senior Justice Law Firm represents families impacted by elder abuse and neglect throughout Southeastern Virginia. Bed sores, broken bones, patient falls and wrongful death are inexcusable.

Call or Live Chat with Senior Justice Law Firm today for a completely free Norfolk nursing home abuse attorney case consultation.

Norfolk Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys

Signs of Abuse or Neglect in Norfolk Nursing Homes

• Bed sores or pressure ulcers
• Falls and broken bones
• Significant weight loss greater than 10% of the resident’s total weight
• Untreated infection
• Sexual assault or physical abuse
• Wrongful death

If your parent or loved one suffered any of the above injuries inside a Virginia facility, speak with our Norfolk nursing home abuse law firm immediately to learn more about your legal rights.

Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyers Representing Victims in Norfolk and all of Hampton Roads

When people consider the area of the country that they would like to retire in, Virginia often springs to mind. From its dozens of beautiful beaches to its mild weather and proximity to bustling destinations like Washington, D.C. and Chesapeake Bay, Southeastern Virginia is a hot spot for older folks who would like to retire. This means that Virginia—and especially the Hampton Roads area around Norfolk—is full of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities for those who are 65 and older.

Unfortunately, even though the state has hundreds of nursing homes within its borders, many of the facilities provide care that is, at best, substandard. Norfolk is not exempt from this, which means that your loved one may be in danger of abuse, neglect, or even death at a nursing home due to negligence. In fact, Hampton Roads is home to some of Virginia’s lowest rated nursing homes.

If you believe that your loved one was the victim of nursing home abuse or elder neglect in the Norfolk area of Virginia, reach out to Senior Justice Law Firm at (757) 530-4255.

We are Norfolk nursing home abuse attorneys who work solely on nursing home abuse cases as our focus. We want to bring justice to abusive and neglectful nursing homes and assist families in their fight against long-term care facility neglect.

Norfolk Nursing Home Quality

Norfolk Nursing Homes Rank Poorly Statewide

When people choose Virginia as their retirement location, Norfolk is one of their top picks. Its fair weather, sandy beaches, and fun activities that are accessible for an older crowd make it a popular selection. Those 65 and up can still enjoy the Norfolk Botanical Gardens or Nauticus, a maritime museum with a real battleship, or they can simply relax in the beachside communities of Ocean View and East Beach.

Regardless of how they choose to spend their time, elders in Norfolk tend to gravitate toward the many local nursing homes in order to assist them with areas of life that they may need help with.  Unfortunately, the nursing homes in the area have a trend of poor performance in the state’s annual inspections and see particularly negative scores in areas of staff to patient ratio and fall mitigation.

There are 19 nursing homes within the 10 miles surrounding Norfolk’s city center, and as surprising as it may be, only four managed to achieve a rating sufficient to place them into the “average” category; all others received the bare minimum in scores for quality of care. Even if your loved one is or was formerly a resident of one of the better rated locations, no facility is beyond reproach when it comes to properly caring for residents.

If you believe that someone you love was a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect that caused suffering, injury, or even death in a Norfolk facility, be sure to speak with an experienced lawyer in Norfolk. We can help you strategize about what your plan should be so that you can file a suit against the nursing home—not only for monetary damages, but also for an improvement in care for the sake of all the residents at the facility.

Abuse and Neglect in Norfolk’s Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities

What Abusive and Negligent Norfolk Nursing Homes Have in Common

When it comes to who administers nursing homes in Norfolk, the vast majority of owners are for-profit entities. This means that it is in their best interest to fill as many beds as they possibly can; each resident pays to stay at a nursing home, so that is more money in the pockets of the organization. Nursing homes that pack in any many people as possible—sometimes hundreds at a single facility—tend to be chronically understaffed, so nurses are unable to provide the individualized attention that residents both need and deserve.

When staff do not offer a high enough standard of care and a resident is a victim of injury, suffering, or death as a result, this is called negligence. Staff may also intentionally mistreat residents. Whether the injury your loved one suffered was intentional or the result of negligence, the nursing home is still responsible.

While many signs of nursing home abuse and neglect are nebulous or unexplained, some features of abuse are consistent and easy to spot. They include:

Bedsores

One of the easiest nursing home abuse symptoms to spot is bedsores. Skin lesions that resemble ulcers, bed sores occur when someone lies in the same position for an extended period of time, putting pressure on small areas of the body (like the shoulders, elbows, or tailbone). Nurses are supposed to attend to residents and help them to move every few hours, but due to understaffing, this critical piece of care is often missing in nursing homes.

Bed sores do not occur for any reason other than neglect, so they are always a clear-cut case of nursing home abuse. They can grow severe enough that they reach all the way to the bone, causing intense pain, suffering, and even potentially infection, sepsis, or MRSA. These can all be fatal in the vulnerable populations that tend to reside in nursing homes.

Falls

In addition to bedsores, falls are one of the most common indicators of neglect. While nursing homes are supposed to assess residents for fall risk and mitigate any chances that they may fall during their everyday lives, this is often said but not done. Some falls are genuine accidents that could not have been prevented, but negligent nursing homes will fail to reduce fall risk as well.

For example, if residents are allowed to wander freely without supervision, or if the beds in the nursing home are not built to discourage people from rolling or falling out of them, the nursing home may be negligent in dealing with fall risks. This can lead to many unexplained injuries alongside broken bones and brain bleeds (called subdural hematomas).

Malnutrition/Dehydration

When understaffed nursing homes offer food and water to their residents, they typically do not have the time to wait with the resident while they eat. Mobility issues common in this demographic make eating and drinking challenging, and without supervision, even this activity can become dangerous. People may not eat or drink as much as they need if they are unable to do so, which can lead to malnutrition or dehydration.

If residents are frequently left unsupervised to eat, they are at a much higher risk of choking on their food or water or food “going down the wrong pipe” (aspiration pneumonia), which can lead to infection.

Physical and Sexual Abuse

Unfortunately, even with background checks for incoming and long-term staff, physical and sexual abuse is not uncommon in nursing homes. Many cases go underreported because residents may have issues with cognition and memory that make their reports difficult to document. Additionally, other residents can also cause problems.

Damages Available in a Norfolk Nursing Home Negligence Lawsuit

If residents in the nursing home are aggressive or have memory issues that can leave them confused in unfamiliar places, they may lash out at your loved one in physical or sexual ways—and it is up to the nursing home to prevent this.

Families that are considering filing a nursing home abuse lawsuit in Norfolk, Virginia and the surrounding area often feel discouraged, because no amount of money received in damages is going to be able to undo the pain and suffering that their loved one endured.

However, remember that the majority of nursing homes across the country are run by for-profit organizations. They are primarily concerned with money and their bottom line—so forcing them to pay monetary damages is one of the best ways to incentivize change. They are most likely to improve conditions in their nursing homes if they are forced to pay fines that cut into their profits. This can protect future residents of the nursing home.

There are a wide variety of claims that can be filed under the umbrella of nursing home abuse and neglect, but some of the most common types that you can receive monetary damages for are:

• Pain and suffering
• Loss of consortium (when someone is deprived of the family benefits of having a loved one, such as affection and sexual relations)
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Distress, both mental and emotional
• Medical bills
• Loss of earnings
• Funeral costs (if a wrongful death has occurred)

The abuse that a resident suffers at a nursing home is typically categorized as negligent. However, upon occasion, the infraction is so severe that the case can be upgraded to one of “gross negligence,” which carries much more severe penalties. The nursing home may be fined heavily by the government, placed into a remediation program, or even have its license permanently suspended.

Nursing Homes in Norfolk

Norfolk Nursing Home Abuse News

Norfolk is one of the most popular places for older people to retire, and it often makes the news. Unfortunately, its appearances in the media are rarely good when it comes to nursing homes in the Hampton Roads region.

A local Ombudsman noted that across Virginia, Norfolk included, staffing remains a major concern in cases of abuse and negligence. “Most [for-profit] facilities do not have enough staff in comparison to the number of residents on the floor. Will residents have to wait for assistance and be in their bed while they’re soiled, or try to wait for assistance and need help going to the bathroom and fall? The state recommends 15 minutes to respond to residents, but there is no regulation.”

This neglect in patient to staff ratio is one of the leading causes of abuse citations in nursing homes across the state and in Norfolk. While the state government has plans to improve, they will take time and may not be adopted by all locations.

Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuits in Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk Nursing Home Neglect Suits and Free Consultation

If you are faced with reporting nursing home abuse and elder neglect in Norfolk because someone you love was injured, suffered, or even died as a result of their care, it can be challenging to know where to go next. Senior Justice Law Firm would be happy to guide you on this journey to help you seek justice against the nursing home for the sake of your loved one.

Our attorneys focus only on nursing home abuse cases, and that means that we have the experience and resources necessary to help you succeed in recovering monetary damages from abusive nursing homes. We believe in our influence on facilities to change their care for the better, and we can help you develop a strategy to succeed in your case against a Norfolk nursing home that neglected your loved one.

Best of all, we always provide free Norfolk nursing home negligence case consultations. We only get paid if you make a financial recovery on your case, so we never charge out of pocket fees or costs.

Get in touch by using our chat feature or submitting your information below. You can also contact us via phone at (757) 530-4255.

We look forward to hearing from you, and helping you with your current situation.

Offices: Norfolk, VA