Building a Nursing Home Abuse Claim? Don’t Make One of These Mistakes

If nursing home staff abused your loved one, your family deserves justice. Before you can hold the facility liable, though, you’re going to have to put together a strong claim. You’re also going to have to avoid making critical mistakes along the way.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common missteps that families tend to make when building their actions against long-term care facilities:

1. Letting the Facility Take the Lead

Once nursing home administrators learn of your concerns, they’ll probably reach out to your family and offer to conduct an internal investigation. Although they might come across as helpful and sympathetic, it’s important to remember that their interests are in direct opposition with your own. Their primary goal is to protect the facility, while yours is to protect your family and ultimately hold them accountable.

Although you cannot stop administrators from looking into your allegations, you don’t have to rely on their findings. With the help of a resourceful nursing home abuse attorney, you can conduct your own investigation and use those findings to build your case against the facility.

2. Posting About the Situation on Social Media

Before you turn to your friends and followers on social media for support, consider the potential ramifications. Depending on the content of your posts and how they could be interpreted, they might be used against you later. If there are any discrepancies between what you publish and what you end up stating in your claim, for example, the opposing party may use that as cause to challenge your credibility.

3. Failing to Preserve Evidence

What made you suspect nursing home abuse in the first place? An unexplained hospitalization? Statements from other residents or their visitors? Rapid weight loss and a generally disheveled appearance? Whatever the initial warning signs were, make sure to record them however you can.

4. Failing to Record Recoverable Damages

Successful nursing home abuse claims generally yield compensation for medical bills, relocation expenses, home care, transportation, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment in life, and pain and suffering. Before you can recover a single dollar, though, you’re going to have to prove that the victim and your family did, in fact, incur such losses.

As such, it’s imperative to save all associated bills, invoices, and receipts. Such records will help demonstrate the extent of the economic damages.

As for proving non-economic damages, you may be able to use statements from those who know the victim well, including friends, loved ones, and other residents. If the victim is fairly cognizant, their own personal journal entries could also be valuable. Finally, psychological evaluations can bolster the claim.

Discuss Your Case with a Nursing Home Abuse Attorney in Minneapolis

If your family wants to take action against a long-term care facility, turn to Bradshaw & Bryant. Our resourceful team will conduct a comprehensive investigation that hopefully yields the evidence needed to hold them accountable. To schedule a free consultation with a nursing home abuse lawyer in Minneapolis, complete our Contact Form or call 800-770-7008.