Nursing Home Assault: Staff on Resident Assault
Tragically, here at The Dickson Firm, we handle many cases where a resident has been assaulted. In some cases, a resident is assaulted by another resident. I recently posted a separate article addressing this very disturbing situation that occurs in some nursing homes.
In other cases, the resident is assaulted by a staff member. We have handled many cases involving a resident who was assaulted by an employee at the nursing home. We were very proud to represent Esther Piskor, a nursing home resident who was assaulted by multiple staff members at the nursing home where she was a resident. Esther’s son posted a camera in her room to keep an eye on his mother. The camera picked up hours and hours of recording. Though he did his best to review the recordings from the camera, he was obviously not able to watch it all and keep up with it. One day, as he was scanning through the hours and hours of footage, Esther Piskor’s son came across recordings of his mom being assaulted by the staff. He immediately called the police and an investigation ensued.
Esther Piskor’s Nursing Home Assault Case
The Dickson Firm represented Ms. Piskor and her family in that case. Multiple attorneys turned them down due to a number of challenges with the case. We at The Dickson Firm are proud to say that we were able to overcome those challenges and successfully represent Ms. Piskor to give her the justice that she deserved.
Later, the State of Ohio Legislature passed Esther's Law, which is a law that makes it legal for a family member or loved one to put a camera in a nursing home resident’s room to keep a close eye on them.
In the Piskor case, Esther was being assaulted by the staff. They slapped her. They shoved her. They pushed her against the wall. It was an incredibly tragic case.
Nursing Home Assaults By Staff Members
Many people who work at nursing homes are kind, loving caregivers who provide excellent care to their residents. Unfortunately, some caregivers are burnt out and frustrated because the nursing homes where they work are understaffed which makes it impossible for them to provide adequate care to all of their residents.
Sometimes this frustration can boil over and cause staff to lash out at the residents. Some people who work in nursing homes simply have no business working around any vulnerable person, and rather than providing care to the vulnerable elderly people who reside in their nursing home, they prey upon them. They assault them. They steal their medication, their money, and their belongings. The Dickson Firm has unfortunately handled many, many cases where various staff members at various nursing homes throughout Ohio have stolen from the residents as well as assaulted the residents. In some tragic cases, staff members even sexually assault the residents under their care.
A Nursing Home’s Duty to Prevent Assault
Nursing homes have a legal duty under the State Law in Ohio, as well as Federal Law, to provide their residents with a safe environment. This is part of a law known as the Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights. Nursing homes are responsible for running a criminal background check on each of their employees upon hiring them. If anyone who applies to work at a nursing home has ever been convicted of a number of crimes, it is not legal for them to work in a nursing home. If an individual has a history of being convicted of a violent crime, or various crimes involving dishonesty, including theft, it is not legal for the nursing home to employ them. Nursing homes have a duty to make sure they only hire people who do not have a history of violence or theft.
Nursing homes also have the ability to check the background of their nurses and their aides through their licensure. If a nurse has prior disciplinary actions against him or her, those are available through the Board of Nursing. Nursing homes can determine if a nurse applying for a job with their nursing home has had prior issues with theft, drugs ,or violence. Further, every nursing home has a duty to interview anyone applying for a job at their nursing home and to determine whether or not they are suitable to be caring for their residents.
Nursing homes also have a duty to supervise their employees and make sure they are providing proper care to their residents. They are required to investigate any complaints, grievances, or allegations of mistreatment as well as to educate their staff on proper care. Most importantly, they have a duty to prevent the abuse of their residents. Some nursing homes do a good job of this. However, some nursing homes hire people who are not suitable to take care of vulnerable nursing home residents and then fail to supervise them. As a result, nursing home assaults by the staff can occur.
Contact an Experienced Nursing Home Abuse Attorney
The nursing home is the resident's home. All residents have an absolute right to feel safe and secure in their home. They should not have to worry that anyone is going to assault them in their home.
If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at The Dickson Firm at 1-800-OHIO-LAW as we would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.