Unfortunately, nursing home violations and the resulting abuse and neglect may be indicators of the serious situation at your loved one’s residential facility. Family members may need to take action due to suspected nursing home violations.

Violations are a common way to track those facilities that may not be meeting expectations. A nursing home inspection database is used to capture nursing home violations and, in recent years, this service has been used to address and report more than one quarter million deficiencies found in nursing homes across the United Sates. This data is drawn from historical information from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Narrative reports from these agencies helped detail common nursing home violations found in facilities. Nursing homes are investigated anytime there is a complaint filed, in addition to on an annual basis. If nursing home violations are identified and these are classified as deficiencies, the inspector then ranks these on a numerical scale.

Some of the most common nursing home violations outlined in these reports include failure for services to meet professional standards, unnecessary drugs being used, persons guilty of abuse being employed, clinical records failing to meet professional standards, not storing or distributing food under sanitary conditions, and failing to keep the facility free of accident hazards.

When family members discover injuries or illnesses tied to nursing home abuse or neglect, they may choose to take action by filing a nursing home abuse lawsuit. Although many people will also choose to report these instances of abuse directly to the facility or to government regulators, many instances of nursing home abuse are never reported to authorities and therefore, not captured in nursing home violations. Up to 84 percent of cases are never reported to authorities.

Remember that a loved one may not be able to articulate their concerns about nursing home abuse or neglect on their own. They may instead show substantial changes in their physical and emotional well-being. Those family members who have witnessed a loved one suffer severe injury, illness, or even death as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect, may choose to take action by filing a lawsuit against the residential facility.

If the abuse can be caught early, deadly errors and neglect can be stopped before a resident sustains fatal injuries. Far too many families, however, discover the true depth of the abuse and neglect after a loved one has been killed. Following an investigation, those surviving family members might want to hold the facility accountable and take legal action through an abuse lawsuit.

Filing a lawsuit may be the only way for family members to recover compensation and to hold the facility accountable for these actions. This can also help to stop the cycle of abuse for other residents inside the facility who may currently be suffering at the hands of staff.