You placed your faith in a nursing home to provide compassionate, attentive care for your elderly loved one. But instead of the support and dignity they deserved, your family member suffered from neglect or mistreatment at the hands of the very people entrusted with their wellbeing. This betrayal of trust is heartbreaking - and it is unacceptable.
If your loved one has been a victim of nursing home negligence, you have the right to seek justice and hold the responsible parties accountable. The dedicated Seattle nursing home abuse and negligence attorneys at Swanson Gardner Meyers Cohon PLLC are here to stand up for your family during this difficult time. We'll fight tenaciously to get you the compensation your loved one deserves and ensure those at fault answer for their actions.
Why Choose Our Seattle Nursing Home Negligence Lawyers?
Swanson Gardner Meyers Cohon PLLC has over 30 years of experience holding nursing homes and long-term care facilities responsible for abusive, negligent care of their elderly and disabled patients when care facilities put profit before compassionate, competent care.
Competent standards of care that must be adhered to are outlined in the State of Washington’s Abuse of Vulnerable Adults Act. If a vulnerable, ill, or disabled adult cared for in a nursing home, resident facility, or by a licensed caregiver is harmed or neglected, it may be considered negligence.
Our law firm has a long track record of success in holding negligent caregivers and nursing homes accountable when seniors are harmed. Here are just a few of our most notable cases.
We represented a 60-year-old man who was cognitively impaired, was severely diabetic, had multiple comorbidities, and was living on disability. Following a simple abdominal surgery, he was admitted to a skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation. Within three weeks of his admission to the nursing facility, he was returned to the hospital for emergency care. Both of his legs were amputated above his knees. The nursing facility had so neglected him that his feet became severely infected and necrotic. We sued the nursing facility and obtained a large result, allowing him to live out the rest of his life in pleasant surroundings where he received excellent medical care for the rest of his short life.
In another case, we were retained by the adult children of a delightful 90-year-old woman who suffered from Alzheimer’s. After being dropped by an aid trainee who failed to follow Hoyer lift and two-person assist protocols, she underwent hip replacement and was transferred to a nationally syndicated skilled nursing facility.
Nine days later, their lovely elderly mother was diagnosed with a serious infection and decubitus ulcers. She never recovered. After her death, her eldest son came to our law firm and told us he didn’t want another family to go through the pain his mother and her family endured. We fought a lengthy battle against multiple defense attorneys who claimed they “did nothing wrong.” Within weeks of trial, we obtained a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of this deserving family whose mother suffered needlessly at the hands of incompetent care.
Forms of Nursing Home Negligence
Negligence in nursing homes can take many forms, including:
Bed sores/pressure ulcers due to lack of repositioning
Falls resulting from improper transfer techniques or lack of assistance
Malnutrition and dehydration from inadequate food and fluids
Medication errors like missed doses, incorrect meds, or wrong dosage
Untreated pain or failure to provide prescribed medications
Infections stemming from unsanitary conditions or poor hygiene
Unexplained injuries like bruises, cuts, broken bones
Rapid physical or mental decline inconsistent with health conditions
Emotional abuse through yelling, shaming, ignoring, or isolating
Physical abuse or inappropriate restraint
Sexual abuse or assault from staff or other residents
Financial exploitation and theft of money/valuables
Elopement and wandering due to lack of supervision
Untimely death that could have been prevented with proper care
This is by no means an exhaustive list. Any time a resident does not receive the appropriate standard of care and suffers harm, it may constitute negligence. If you suspect mistreatment of any kind, don't hesitate to contact us to discuss your loved one's situation.
Holding the Right Parties Responsible After Nursing Home Negligence
Negligence in a nursing home setting can occur at multiple levels. From the hands-on caregivers to administrative policies, any breakdown in proper care can have devastating consequences. Sadly, it is often a combination of individual and systemic failures that allows negligence to occur. Our knowledgeable nursing home negligence attorneys will thoroughly investigate to identify all responsible parties and hold them fully accountable for the harm they caused your loved one.
Nurses and nursing aides are responsible for much of the day-to-day attention and medical monitoring. If they fail to follow the care plan, respond to a resident's needs, or recognize and report signs of a problem, they may be considered negligent.
Doctors have a duty to evaluate a resident's condition thoroughly, provide appropriate treatment, and ensure proper follow-up occurs. Negligence can include misdiagnosing an issue, prescribing the wrong medication, or failing to order necessary tests or interventions.
Those in charge of operating the nursing home must ensure the facility is safe, well-maintained, and properly staffed. They also need clear protocols for resident care and handling issues. Negligent administrative practices like inadequate training, poor hiring standards, or unreasonable staff ratios can create an environment ripe for substandard care.
As a business, the nursing home itself is responsible for the actions of its employees. If an individual staff member's negligence causes harm, the facility can be held accountable. The nursing home may also be liable for its negligent patient care, staffing, and operations practices.
Common Causes of Negligent Care
While not an excuse for inadequate treatment, several factors frequently contribute to negligent nursing home conditions:
Understaffing
Inadequate Training
High Staff Turnover
Poor Communication
Lack of Supervision
Some negligent actions stem from facility-wide procedures that are inadequate or improperly implemented. For example, ineffective fall prevention programs, lax infection control measures, and flawed medication management systems can allow preventable injuries to occur across multiple residents.
When nursing homes prioritize profits over people, residents suffer. Corporate pressure to limit operating expenses results in bare-bones staffing, inadequate supplies, and deferred facility maintenance and repairs. The quality of care declines as staff struggle to do more with less.
Holding nursing home facilities fully accountable for substandard care is key to preventing other families from experiencing similar heartbreak.
Uncovering the Truth After Nursing Home Negligence
If your loved one suffered injury or decline due to nursing home negligence, you may feel overwhelmed and unsure where to turn. How can you prove mistreatment occurred? What evidence do you need to hold the facility accountable?
The compassionate legal team at Swanson Gardner Meyers Cohon PLLC is here to guide you. Our extensive experience in nursing home negligence cases means we know what it takes to build a strong compensation claim.
We'll start with an in-depth review of your loved one's medical records, including nursing notes, physician orders, medication records, and treatment logs. We may also gather supporting evidence, like photos of visible injuries, video footage from security cameras, and maintenance records showing equipment failures. We'll seek witness testimony from family members or other residents who observed mistreatment. If needed, we'll engage medical experts to provide their opinion on whether the appropriate standard of care was followed.
With our skill in nursing home negligence litigation, we'll piece together the necessary evidence to show how the facility's negligence led to your loved one's harm. Armed with the facts, we'll aggressively advocate for your family's right to full and fair compensation. Though we can't undo your loved one's suffering, we can ensure those responsible are held accountable.
Contact Our Seattle Nursing Home Negligence Lawyers Today
No one should have to endure neglect or mistreatment in a nursing home. When caretakers betray the trust you placed in them and harm your loved one, they must answer for their actions. Filing a nursing home negligence claim not only provides your family with a measure of justice—it can also help spark change to prevent future acts of negligence.
If you suspect your loved one is a victim of negligent nursing home practices in Seattle or throughout the state of Washington, don't wait to take action. Contact the caring, experienced nursing home negligence lawyers at Swanson Gardner Meyers Cohon PLLC today for a free, confidential consultation. We're ready to fight for your family.
