Emotional and Mental Abuse in Connecticut Nursing Homes

An estimated 16% of nursing home residents report suffering abuse at the hands of facility staff. While this number is shocking, the full extent of abuse is likely much higher when unreported abuse is considered. Emotional and mental abuse is more prevalent than other forms like physical and sexual abuse, but it is no less traumatic and harmful to victims.

Damage caused by nursing home abuse is completely preventable, yet so many vulnerable residents experience physical and psychological pain caused by facility caregivers. When you or your loved one has suffered emotional or mental abuse in a nursing home, you deserve the chance to hold your abuser liable for the damage you’ve suffered. At D’Amico & Pettinicchi, LLC, we use our 100+ years of aggregate experience to help emotional abuse victims get the justice and compensation they need to heal.

What Constitutes Emotional and Mental Abuse in a Nursing Home?

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) defines abuse as the “willful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment with resulting physical harm, pain, or mental anguish.” This can include depriving a resident of an item or service that contributes to their well-being. Verbal abuse and mental abuse are specifically mentioned in the CFR as unlawful forms of abuse.

Nursing home caregivers may be emotionally abusive if they threaten, harass, humiliate, intimidate, or demean residents. Mental and emotional abuse can look like:

• Making residents wait for long periods for food, medicine, or care
• Preventing residents from making decisions about their care
• Yelling, insulting, or using other abusive language toward residents
• Falsely accusing residents in order to shame or embarrass them
• Leaving assistive devices like walkers or glasses out of reach

Nursing Home Obligations and Resident Rights in Connecticut

State and federal regulations provide protections for nursing home residents in an effort to keep them safe from harm. When nurses, doctors, and other facility staff violate a patient’s rights, they need aggressive legal representation from an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer.

Knowing what rights and protections are available to residents is a helpful first step. Among the laws and acts that establish the standards of care Connecticut nursing homes must follow are:

• Federal Nursing Home Reform Act
• Connecticut Patient Bill of Rights

These laws and regulations require nursing homes to provide a certain level of care and set forth the rights that aging individuals have as residents of these facilities. These rights and standards include:

• The right to humane and dignified treatment
• The right to not be deprived of civil rights
• The right to receive visitors during set hours
• The right to be involved in developing a treatment plan
• The facility must provide equal access to quality care
• The facility must treat each patient with dignity and respect
• The facility must protect the rights of the patients
• The facility must inform the patient of their health status in an understandable way

Nursing home staff that emotionally or psychologically abuse patients are in violation of numerous standards and laws. This violation causes distress and harm to residents, and abuse victims deserve a chance to seek damages for their pain.

The pain of mental and emotional abuse is often invisible, but it is devastating nonetheless. Let the nursing home abuse attorneys at D’Amico & Pettinicchi, LLC, hold abusive caregivers accountable. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.