Massachusetts Elder Abuse Lawyer Discusses Federal Nursing Home Rights
Jan 4, 2012
Boston, MA (Law Firm Newswire) January 3, 2012 – Boston Massachusetts nursing home abuse attorney Bernard J. Hamill says families should use federal rules that give rise to specific rights for all nursing home residents.
Some of your nursing home rights include the right to:
– Be treated with dignity and respect. You have the right to decide when you go to bed, when to wake up in the morning, and when and where to eat your meals.
– Be free from discrimination of any kind including racial and sexual;
– Be free from abuse and neglect: you have the right to be free from verbal, sexual, physical, and mental abuse of any kind. This prohibition is part of federal laws, state laws and almost always part of the policy and procedure for licensed nursing homes that accept medicare patients.
– Be free from restraints: nursing homes can’t use side rails or drugs to discipline you merely for the staff’s own convenience.
– Make complaints about your caregivers: you have the right to make a complaint to the staff of the nursing home, or any other person, without fear of reprisal.
– Get proper medical care; you have the following rights regarding your medical care: to be fully informed and to participate in the decisions that affect your care. The nursing home must notify your doctor and your legal representative or family when your physical, mental, or psychosocial status declines.
– Maintain your proper privacy; you have the right to spend private time with visitors and to have visitors at any time as long as the visit does not interfere with the privacy of other roommates.
– Leave the nursing home if your health allows it. You can leave the nursing home to visit family or friends.
– Be protected against an unfair discharge.
– Involve your family in your care decisions.
The Hamill Firm of Quincy, Massachusetts concentrates their practice on advocating for elderly nursing home residents and has a successful track record of verdicts and settlements including some of the highest emotional distress verdicts ever awarded in Massachusetts for nursing home abuse. The Hamill group encourages all residents injured by neglect in Massachusetts nursing homes to call for a free evaluation of their claim.
For more information contact the Hamill group at (617) 479-4300 or use the Hamill firm’s website contact form.
Hamill Law Firm
36 Miller Stile Rd.
Quincy, MA 02169
(617) 479-4300
http://www.Hamill-law.com
