California Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing home abuse occurs on a widespread basis every day. The issue of California nursing home abuse, and nationwide, has become a subject highlighted by families, advocates, and the media, resulting in the government pledging to rid nursing homes of the abuse affecting a high number of our nation's elders. The public has been horrified hearing of instances of California nursing home abuse that involved such severity many people are questioning how all these nursing home facilities were overlooked.
Now one of the largest law enforcement challenges, California nursing home abuse will only become a greater problem as the number of nursing homes continue growing. There are currently over 17,000 nursing homes in the U.S., and one in three of these homes are reported for abuse. While this number is extremely high, the number of California nursing home abuse is thought largely underestimated.
Most often, California nursing home abuse instances involved untreated bedsores, inadequate medical care, malnutrition, dehydration, preventable accidents, and inadequate sanitation and hygiene. A study performed by the minority staff of the Special Investigations Division of the House Government Reform Committee on nursing home abuse found that nursing home residents were enduring being punched, slapped, chocked, kicked leading to broken bones and lacerations. Looking for signs of California nursing home abuse that can result in not just physical abuse, but mental and sexual abuse, as well as neglect can help stop abuse early.