Nursing home negligence refers to a long-term care facility failing to act within the accepted standards of care to ensure the health, safety and well-being of its elderly residents. If you wish to hold a nursing home in Texas legally responsible for this tort or act of wrongdoing in relation to your loved one’s serious injuries or death, you must prove your case using evidence and a wrongful death attorney in San Antonio.
Four Elements of Proof
“Negligence” within the scope of personal injury law is when someone acts in a way that a reasonable and prudent person would not have when placed in the same or similar circumstances. In a personal injury or wrongful death claim, the burden of proving negligence rests with the plaintiff or filing party.
Four key elements must be proven to establish negligence in a nursing home neglect case:
- Duty of care: the nursing home owed the injured victim a duty of care. Nursing homes have certain responsibilities by law, and must always respect the rights of their residents.
- Breach of duty: the nursing home or one of its employees violated the duty of care with a careless or wrongful act or omission.
- Causation: the breach of duty caused or significantly contributed to the victim’s injuries or harm.
- Damages: the victim or claimant suffered compensable losses as a result of the nursing home’s negligence, such as physical injuries or medical costs.
Nursing home negligence can take many forms, including a lack of proper medical care, failing to maintain a safe premises, understaffing, poor nutrition or hydration, or physical abuse of residents. Anything the facility failed to do that it should have done by law or to fulfill its duty of care can constitute negligence.
Evidence of Nursing Home Negligence
If you wish to file a claim against a nursing home in Texas for negligence or wrongdoing, you must support your case with evidence. Collect as much information as you can regarding the tort and the victim’s losses. The more documentation you have, the stronger your legal claim will be.
Common types of evidence include:
- A detailed description of events in the victim’s own words (or a representative of the victim).
- Photographs of your elderly loved one’s physical injuries or general deterioration.
- Medical records and hospital bills connected to the mistreatment.
- Copies of complaints or incident reports filed against the nursing home.
- Any communications between you and the nursing home or its insurance provider.
- Copies of video footage of the abuse or neglect, if any are available.
- Written and signed statements from eyewitnesses, such as other nursing home residents or visitors.
- Testimony from hired expert witnesses, such as medical experts.
- Proof of related losses, such as medical bills or out-of-pocket costs.
Contact organizations such as the Texas Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman to search for prior complaints against the nursing home to add to your claim. Act quickly to preserve evidence and request copies of important paperwork – before any key information gets lost or destroyed.
Hire a Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer
You don’t have to try to prove your nursing home negligence case on your own. You can improve your chances of success and save yourself the trouble of having to collect evidence yourself by hiring a personal injury attorney in San Antonio to do so for you. An experienced nursing home neglect or abuse attorney will have all the tools and resources you need to build the strongest possible case against a facility in Texas. Contact us today.