Nursing home abuse and neglect has become widespread. There are over 1.5 million elderly and dependent individuals living in nursing homes throughout the United States.

Nursing home abuse is a serious problem affecting thousands of nursing home residents who are dependent on nursing homes for care. Nursing home abuse and neglect can be difficult to recognize and is often covered up by nursing home staff.

Most residents in nursing homes are dependent on the staff for most or all their needs such as food, water, medicine, toileting, grooming, stimulation and turning – almost all their daily care.

Some types of nursing home abuse include:

• Failure to assist in personal hygiene, or in the provision of food, clothing, or shelter, creating health and safety hazards
• Failure to provide medical care for physical and mental health needs
• Failure to prevent malnutrition
• Failure to provide sanitary conditions
• Failure to prevent dehydration
• Failure to provide the necessities of daily living
• Failure to prevent bed sores
• Failure to prevent infections

Unfortunately, many residents in nursing homes today are starved, dehydrated, over-medicated, and suffer painful pressure sores. They are often isolated, ignored and deprived of social contact and stimulation. Because of insufficient and poorly trained staff commonly found in nursing homes (a common problem caused by corporate owners who are more concerned about their bottom line than the care they should be providing), care givers are often overworked and grossly underpaid which often results in rude and abusive behavior to vulnerable residents who beg them for simple needs such as water or to be taken to the bathroom.