Nursing home abuse is much more widespread than most people know about in the United States. Due to this, patients’ family members must be vigilant about watching out for any signs of abuse happening behind the scenes at their elderly loved one’s nursing home. If you’re ready to become a voice for your loved one, here are seven signs of potential nursing home abuse you should be aware of in Chicago, IL nursing homes:

1. Sudden Mood Swings

Few things are as big of a red flag for nursing home patients as sudden, and especially violent, mood swings. If you notice that your normally social loved one suddenly becomes isolated, spiteful, or afraid to interact with others, there may be behind-the-scenes abuse happening at their nursing home. Treading carefully is important if you suspect that your loved one may be being abused by their nursing home staff, so enlisting the help of a Chicago nursing home lawyer is highly recommended if you suspect abuse is occurring. 

2. Unexplained Injuries

When an elderly patient is injured while living in a nursing home, quick action needs to be taken to ensure their health is minimally affected. For this reason, if you discover that your elderly loved one has an unexplained injury, you need to get to the bottom of its cause right away. Doing so cannot only help you uncover potential abuse, but it may help you prevent other patients from suffering abuse by a reckless nursing home staff member (or system) as well. 

3. Bed Sores and Bedside Falls

While unexplained injuries are a larger red flag, certain types of injuries can create suspicions of abuse, even if they’re reported and taken care of in a timely fashion. Bed sores and bedside falls are two such injuries. Many elderly patients need to be moved in their beds safely from time to time every single day if they are to avoid bed sores, after all. If the staff is falling to prevent sores and falls, then they are likely neglecting other areas of their patient care duties as well. 

4. Unexplained Financial Losses

Unfortunately, many nursing home patients are defrauded and ripped off across the US every single day. Because these patients often have cognition issues, they can fail to realize that they’re being overcharged, swindled, or outright stolen from. To ensure that your loved one is being taken care of financially, you may ask them if you can help monitor their finances. That way, if you see any signs of suspicious activity or gift-giving, you can report the issue to the nursing home’s director right away. 

5. Slip-and-Fall Accidents

As we mentioned earlier, there are certain types of injuries that nursing home staff members are meant to vigilantly fight against and prepare for. Because elderly patients can sustain life-threatening injuries (and even die) from slip-and-fall accidents, nursing homes need to have plans and cleaning operations in place to prevent said accidents from occurring. If you’re loved one experiences a preventable slip-and-fall accident at their nursing home, the cause could likely be connected to negligent managing practices and should be investigated by a nursing home lawyer professional ASAP. 

6. Unexplained STDs

STDs are much more common in nursing homes than you might assume. While the patients are elderly, many of them still lead somewhat-active sex lives during their final days. Love doesn’t have a number, after all. However, if you’re elderly loved one develops an unexplained, suspicious STD, it may be a sign of sexual abuse happening behind the scenes at their nursing home. Because of the seriousness of this abuse, it’s another red flag that should be reported to the nursing home’s director (and higher authorities if need be) as soon as humanly possible. Doing so can help you prevent the spread of that disease to other elderly patients as well, so you should always take this situation in a deadly serious manner. 

7. Malnutrition and Dehydration

One of the most serious red flags you should be on the watch out for as a family member is any instances of malnutrition and dehydration. These conditions only occur if staff members are failing to meet the basic nutritional and health needs of your elderly loved one, after all. Getting someone to help you get your loved one into a stable health position is your first priority if this occurs. However, this is one of the rarer signs of abuse out there, so you will hopefully never have to deal with your loved one becoming malnourished or dehydrated while they’re in professional nursing home care.