Southern California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog
Nobody wants to think about the risks of injury that an elderly loved one could face in a nursing home or assisted living facility in Riverside County. Yet nursing home negligence and elder abuse and neglect are more common than you might expect. As a result, seniors in nursing homes and residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) sustain injuries that could have been avoided with proper care. How can you prove that the facility is responsible for a resident’s injuries? And what type of evidence can be used in a Southern California nursing home negligence lawsuit? Our experienced Riverside County nursing home neglect lawyers at our firm can provide you with more information.
Understanding the Elements of a Nursing Home Negligence Case
First, in order to prove liability in a nursing home negligence lawsuit, you should know that you will need to prove the elements of a negligence claim. While the specific and detailed elements of your case will be based on the circumstances and facts surrounding your elderly loved one’s injuries, the following are the general elements of a negligence claim in California:
- Duty of care, meaning that the nursing home owed the injured resident a duty of care (this is easily established by the fact that the resident is living in the nursing home and paying for specific care and services and by the fact that the resident is covered by the California Nursing Home Residents’ Rights);
- Nursing home breached the duty of care by behaving in a negligent manner (negligence in a nursing home setting usually means that the facility failed to provide a reasonable level of care through an act or an omission);
- Resident at the nursing home suffered an injury; and
- Resident’s injury was caused by the nursing home’s breach of the duty of care.
There are various ways in which a nursing home can be negligent. For example, it might have significantly understaffed the facility to lower costs or failed to run a background check on an employee who perpetrated acts of physical or emotional abuse against a resident.
Evidence You May Be Able to Use in Your Nursing Home Neglect Claim
You may be able to use multiple forms of evidence to prove nursing home negligence, and the specific evidence you will need will depend on the facts of your case. Examples of evidence that may support a nursing home negligence case include but are not limited to:
- Resident’s medical records;
- Videos or photographs;
- Resident’s testimony;
- Employment records from the facility; and
- Insurance documents.
You may also be able to gather various forms of evidence to show that a facility or one of its employees violated California’s Nursing Home Residents’ Rights.
Contact a Riverside County Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer Today
If you believe an elderly loved one has suffered harm at a facility or has sustained injuries as a result of nursing home negligence, it is critical to get in touch with a lawyer who can help. It will be important to begin gathering evidence against the facility as soon as possible in order to prove your case. One of the experienced Riverside County nursing home negligence attorneys at our firm can provide you with more information about the elements of a nursing home neglect claim in California, and we can get started on your case today. Contact the Walton Law Firm for more information about how we can assist you.
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