Oklahoma Nursing Home Negligence Attorneys

Nursing Home Injuries - An Overview

As people age, the elderly may lose the ability to take care of themselves due to deteriorating physical and/or mental conditions. While some choose to stay at home with an aide or move in with family members or other loved ones, others choose to become residents of nursing homes or other long-term care facilities where they are assisted with their basic daily and special needs.

Unfortunately, not all nursing homes provide their residents with competent care and comfortable environments. The quality of a resident’s life in a nursing home depends on the quality of the facility’s management and staff. If the management is inattentive and the staff neglectful or abusive, residents may suffer physical or emotional trauma and live in miserable conditions until the nursing home’s misconduct is brought to light.

Attorney Ray Maples believes in protecting those who cannot protect themselves. He works hard for his elderly clients and their families in seeking justice and recovery for the damages they have suffered. If you or a loved one have suffered at the hands of neglectful or abusive nursing home staff, call today at (405) 883-4487 for a free consultation.

Our elders should not only have our respect, but also our protection. After spending many, many years of their lives working and contributing to society, they deserve to live out their remaining days in peace and comfort. It is disturbing to think of the number of people who choose to ignore the plight of abused or neglected nursing home residents, especially in the state of Oklahoma, which ranks as one of the worst in the nation when it comes to quality nursing homes.

Different Legal Avenues

If an elderly individual has suffered abuse, neglect or exploitation in a nursing home, he or she may pursue justice, and possibly damages through the following:

Adult Protective Services Agency: Most states have adult protective services or similar agencies that receive and investigate allegations of elderly abuse.
Civil Cause of Action for Damages: Victims may recover damages and receive financial compensation through civil suits.
Criminal Prosecution: If a victim wishes to pursue justice against the perpetrator of abuse or exploitation, he or she may file criminal charges.

Civil Action

A civil suit may be brought against a nursing home owner or staff for bad supervision or care, hiring and retention of inept or abusive employees, and inadequate maintenance of the premises or equipment. Liability claims can also be based on other common law theories of recovery, such as abuse. For example, a victim of nursing home abuse can recover damages for assault and battery.

Negligence forms the basis for a good portion of nursing home liability cases. In order to hold a nursing home liable for negligence, the victim must prove: 1) that the nursing home’s owner or employees breached a duty of care owed to the victim; 2) that the victim’s suffering was caused by this breach; and, 3) that the nursing home owner’s or employee’s conduct caused the injury.

Proving Duty and Breach of Duty

If a plaintiff’s case involves poor treatment, practice or procedure, he or she may need to provide expert testimony to support his or her injury claim. During testimonial proceedings, a medical professional can help jurors understand the connection between the plaintiff’s injury and the defendant nursing home’s failure to provide the proper standard of professional care.

No testimony may be needed if the misconduct is so obvious that the average juror would understand the implications using his or her own intuition, experiences and common knowledge.

In some cases, the victim, or plaintiff, may not know the exact cause of his or her injury, but is sure that it originated from the nursing home’s negligence in some manner. The burden of proof can be shifted onto the nursing home through "res ipsa loquitur," the invocation of which requires the plaintiff to show that:

Evidence of the injury’s actual cause is not available;
The injury cannot occur unless some form of negligence is involved;
The plaintiff was not responsible for the injury;
The defendant, or its employees or agents, had exclusive control of the method or instrumentality that caused the injury; and
The injury could not have been caused by anything other than the circumstances over which the defendant had control.

Nursing homes often try to absolve themselves of liability by arguing that a resident’s injury was unavoidable due to preexisting physical or mental health conditions brought about by advanced age. Although nursing homes cannot be held liable for a resident’s preexisting conditions, they can be held liable for any further damages the resident suffers the moment he or she starts living in the facility. It’s the same established rule of law that applies to hospital patients.

Statutory Standard of Care

Oklahoma and many other states have statutes or regulations that uphold private long-term care facilities to certain minimum standards of care. However, the fulfillment of minimum licensing standards does not grant nursing homes immunity from liability. Victims should consult with an Oklahoma nursing home negligence attorney on what the regulations are in their area.

How Does Fiduciary Relationship Fit In?

This term may seem like nonsensical legal jargon, but it can be used to preserve a nursing home resident’s rights in the absence of specific statutes. Basically, a "fiduciary relationship" involves a relationship of trust, and this special relationship is invoked every time a host has "invitees." The host must keep the premises safe for the "invitees," or else he or she can be held liable for whatever harm befalls them. Like the host of a party, the administrator of a nursing home has fiduciary duties to residents and can be held liable if he or she fails to ensure that they are provided with proper services and treatment.

Criminal Culpability

Some states allow criminal prosecution of abuse, neglect or other malicious acts against nursing home residents. For instance, the failure to provide residents with basic needs such as food, water and hygienic care, can constitute a criminal neglect charge. In another instance, a nursing home staff member who has used unjustified restraint or physical force against a resident may face charges of nursing home abuse.

Protect Your Elderly Loved One

Ray Maples and his staff are experienced in protecting people under Oklahoma nursing home laws. We can help you or your loved one build a strong case and get full and fair compensation for the liable nursing home. To learn more about your available options, call us today at (405) 883-4487. Someone will answer your call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.