Citizens over 55 years old have special rights.. An elderly citizen has rights even if they live in a nursing home. At the Rasansky Law Firm, we fight to defend the rights of every nursing home resident.

Often, the very people who violate the rights of nursing home residents are responsible for caring for the victim's day-to-day needs. Elderly citizens in nursing homes are extremely vulnerable to violations of their rights because they are medically frail and often have mental impairments, making them powerless against abusive behavior.

Nursing home residents do not have to tolerate violations of their rights. Nursing homes are required by law to assure that nursing homes receiving Medicaid funds "implement and enforce" the Rights of the Elderly.

Some of The Rights of the Elderly include the following:

An elderly individual may not be physically or mentally abused or exploited. This type of abuse includes involuntary seclusion, intimidation, humiliation, harassment, hitting, slapping, and verbal abuse that includes disparaging or derogatory terms.

An elderly individual may not be physically or chemically restrained unless the restraint is necessary in an emergency to protect the elderly individual or others from injury after the individual harms or threatens to harm himself or another; or is authorized in writing by a physician for a limited and specific period of time. Tying a nursing home resident to a bed or chair to prevent them from moving freely is a violation of an elder person's rights. Convenience, irritation and anger are not legal excuses for restraining a person.

An elderly individual should be treated with respect, consideration and recognition of their dignity and individuality. An individual should receive personal care and private treatment. A nursing home resident should, at all times, be dressed, well groomed and clean. They should be allowed to express preferences about food, sleeping, and waking times. All treatment and personal care should be given in private. A nursing home must treat its residents with dignity.

An elderly individual may not be denied appropriate care on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, handicap, marital status, or source of payment. Nursing homes cannot provide better care for private-pay or Medicare residents than they do for Medicaid recipients, who are generally less profitable for the nursing home.

An elderly individual may voice grievances or recommend changes in policy or service without restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination or reprisal. The service provider must develop procedures for submitting complaints and recommendations by elderly individuals and for assuring a response by service provider.

Nursing home residents are also afforded certain "Quality of Care" rights. Specifically, each nursing home resident is entitled to receive - and the facility must provide - the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being. In order to do this, a nursing home must insure that a resident's abilities in activities of daily living do not diminish unless the resident's clinical condition shows that the situation is unavoidable.

This includes the resident's abilities to bathe, dress and groom; transfer and ambulate; use the restroom; eat; and use speech language, or other functional communication systems. If a resident is unable to carry out activities of daily living, the nursing home must provide the necessary services for the resident to maintain good nutrition, grooming, and personal hygiene.

If a loved is in a nursing home and you feel that have been abused or neglected, please contact The Rasansky Law Firm immediately to discuss your legal rights and options regarding your loved one in a nursing home.

For more information about Nursing Home Claims, you can also visit www.nursinghomelawyer.com, a Rasansky Law Firm speciality site devoted exclusively to Nursing Home Claims, Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Neglect, and Nursing Home Rights.

Signs that a Loved One In A Nursing Home could be in trouble include Behavioral Problems, Changes In Physical Conditions, Dehydration, and Immobility to name a few.