Adam S. Kutner, Injury Attorneys · Las Vegas Valley
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In This Guide
Why Hire a Lawyer for Your Nursing Home Abuse Claim?
You should hire a Las Vegas nursing home abuse attorney because the facility controls every record that proves your case: the chart, care plan, staffing schedules, incident reports, and video. A Las Vegas nursing home injury attorney can demand those records, bring in nurses and physicians to read them, and take the case into litigation in the district court in Clark County, if the facility will not resolve it.
Liability can reach the operator and its corporate owner, individual staff, contract agencies and vendors, and another resident, when the facility knew of the risk. Nevada requires the person in charge of a skilled nursing, intermediate care, or residential group facility to complete abuse-recognition training before providing care and annually (NRS 449.093), and those records are discoverable.
A facility and its insurer can defend a case by calling the injury a natural part of aging. Adam S. Kutner is a former insurance defense attorney, and he knows how insurance companies work from the inside. The team at Adam S. Kutner, Injury Attorneys, has stood up for injured people in the Las Vegas Valley for more than 35 years, and nursing home abuse and neglect is one practice area within our Las Vegas personal injury law firm.
Signs of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
The signs of nursing home abuse and neglect are the physical, emotional, and financial changes in a resident that a family notices before the facility admits a problem. The U.S. Department of Justice groups the warning signs by type of maltreatment:
Physical abuse
Bruises, welts, rope marks, or fractures; injuries in different stages of healing; a staff member who will not let you see your loved one alone.
Neglect
Dehydration, malnutrition, untreated bedsores, poor hygiene, soiled bedding, and untreated health problems.
Emotional abuse
A resident who is suddenly withdrawn, agitated, or fearful around a particular staff member.
Sexual abuse
Bruising around the breasts or genital area, unexplained bleeding or infections, or blood on sheets or clothing.
Financial exploitation
Sudden changes to bank accounts or a will, new names on a signature card, or missing property.
If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, call 911. If it is not an emergency, write down what you saw and when, photograph any injury, and ask the facility for its incident report the same day.
What Qualifies as Elder Abuse and Neglect Under Nevada Law?
Elder abuse under Nevada law is defined in NRS 200.5092, which protects an “older person” (60 or older) and a “vulnerable person” (an adult whose condition limits daily living), and names five kinds of mistreatment:
Abuse
Willfully inflicting pain, injury, or psychological anguish; withholding food, shelter, clothing, or necessary services; nonconsensual sexual contact.
Neglect
The failure of a person or facility manager responsible for a resident’s care to provide the food, shelter, clothing, or services the resident’s health requires.
Exploitation
Using a position of trust, a power of attorney, or a guardianship to take a resident’s money or property.
Isolation
Intentionally blocking a resident’s visitors, mail, or phone calls.
Abandonment
Deserting a resident in an unsafe way.
Abuse is a willful act. Neglect is a failure to act, and the statute’s definition of neglect has no intent requirement. Both support a civil case, and both are crimes under NRS 200.5099: a gross misdemeanor or category C felony for a first offense, and a category B felony after that.
Nursing Home Neglect Cases: Falls, Bedsores, Dehydration, Choking, and Medication Errors
A nursing home neglect case is a claim that a resident who needed help did not get it, and the harm shows up in the chart. The neglect injuries our Las Vegas nursing home neglect attorneys handle include the following:
Nursing home falls
A resident with a documented fall risk left without the call light, bed alarm, walker, or two-person transfer the care plan called for.
Bedsores (pressure ulcers)
A pressure sore can develop when a resident who cannot move is not repositioned and kept clean and dry. The turning schedule in the chart is the evidence.
Dehydration and malnutrition
Rapid weight loss in a resident who depends on staff for meals and fluids. Weight and intake logs show what staff knew.
Choking and aspiration
A resident on a modified diet who is served the wrong food or left to eat unsupervised.
Medication errors and chemical restraint
Missed or wrong doses, and sedatives used to keep a resident quiet, which NRS 449A.236 restricts.
Wandering
A resident with dementia who leaves a secured unit because doors or supervision failed.
Neglect claims also arise in assisted living facilities, group homes, and home health care, all licensed under NRS Chapter 449, and the reporting law below reaches anyone employed by a facility that cares for elderly or vulnerable persons.
Nursing Home Abuse Cases: Physical, Sexual, Emotional, and Financial Abuse
A nursing home abuse case is a claim that someone at the facility harmed a resident on purpose, or that the facility let it happen. The claims our nursing home abuse attorneys handle:
Physical abuse
Hitting, pushing, rough handling during transfers, and restraints used for staff convenience. Nevada bans corporal punishment and other aversive interventions on a patient with a disability under NRS 449A.233.
Sexual abuse
Sexual assault or any nonconsensual sexual contact, including contact a resident cannot understand or object to.
Emotional and verbal abuse
Threats, humiliation, yelling, and social isolation, which NRS 200.5092 counts as abuse and isolation.
Financial exploitation
Cashed checks, missing jewelry, forged signatures, or a changed will.
Understaffing leaves a paper trail: a nursing home that takes Medicare or Medicaid must submit its direct care staffing data to CMS at least quarterly, including hours of care per resident per day (42 CFR 483.70).
How to Report Nursing Home Abuse in Nevada
Report suspected nursing home abuse or neglect in Nevada to Adult Protective Services, and to the police if anyone is in danger. You have five places to take the report:
- Call 911 if your loved one is in immediate danger.
Adult Protective Services directs emergencies to police or emergency medical services first. - Report to Adult Protective Services.
The Nevada Aging and Disability Services Division takes reports for Las Vegas and Clark County at (702) 486-6930, statewide at (888) 729-0571, and through its online intake form. Any person may report, reports are confidential, and the investigation must begin within three working days (NRS 200.5093). - Call the Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
Nevada’s State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program takes nursing home complaints at 1-888-282-1155, investigates with the resident’s consent, and keeps the complainant’s name confidential. - File a facility complaint with the state licensing bureau.
The Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance prioritizes each complaint by potential harm, can open an investigation in as little as 48 hours, and issues a citation when it substantiates the allegation; the facility then submits a plan of correction. - Put the facility on written notice and call us.
Tell the administrator in writing what you saw, and ask for the incident report and care plan. Nevada prohibits a licensed facility from retaliating against anyone who reports a violation of a patient’s rights (NRS 449A.260). Then call us, so we can request the chart, staffing records, and video.
Facility staff have their own duty to report within 24 hours, under NRS 200.5093, and a facility that violates a patient’s rights, under NRS 449A.200 to 449A.263, must report the violation to the state within 24 hours and adopt a corrective plan within 30 days (NRS 449A.257).
How We Handle Your Nursing Home Abuse Claim
We handle a nursing home abuse claim in four stages; the first is free:
- Listen and assess.
In a free consultation, we go through what you saw, the timeline, and any records you have, and we tell you honestly whether the facts support a claim. - Secure the resident and the records.
If your loved one is still in the facility, safety comes first, and that can mean a transfer. We then request the records and help you make the reports. - Prove the cause.
We compare what the care plan required with what the staffing records and the chart shows. - Demand, negotiate, and file.
We put the claim to the facility’s insurer with the records attached. If the settlement offer does not reflect the harm, we file suit.
No Fees Unless We Win Your Nursing Home Abuse Case
You pay nothing up front. Our fee is a percentage of what we recover; if we recover nothing, you owe no attorney fee. When a defendant acted with recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice, Nevada law also orders that defendant to pay your attorney fees and costs (NRS 41.1395).
How Much Is a Nursing Home Abuse Case Worth?
What a nursing home abuse case is worth depends on the losses the abuse or neglect caused, and Nevada adds a multiplier for older and vulnerable victims. There is no honest average. Compensation can include medical treatment, the cost of moving to a different facility, counseling and rehabilitation, pain and suffering, exploited funds, and wrongful death damages when neglect caused a death.
Under NRS 41.1395, a person who causes injury or death to an older or vulnerable person through abuse or neglect, or a loss through exploitation, is liable for two times the actual damages. Our guide to punitive damages in Nevada personal injury cases explains when those apply on top, and our Las Vegas wrongful death lawyer page explains who can file after a death.
Where to Get Help for Nursing Home Abuse in Las Vegas and Henderson
Help for nursing home abuse in Las Vegas starts with the Clark County Adult Protective Services line, (702) 486-6930, and the Ombudsman and licensing numbers above; families in Henderson, Summerlin, and the south valley use the same paths. The Nevada Attorney General’s Unit for the Investigation and Prosecution of Crimes Against Older Persons or Vulnerable Persons receives a copy of every abuse report (NRS 200.5093), and the licensing bureau’s search of active facility licenses lets you find whether a facility’s license is current. The civil case is filed in the district court in Clark County, and we meet clients at our Rancho Drive, Bonneville Avenue, and Henderson offices, or at the hospital or at the home.
Nevada Nursing Home Abuse Laws
The laws that shape a Nevada nursing home abuse case:
|
Nevada Law |
What it says |
What it means for your case |
|---|---|---|
|
Double damages for elder abuse |
An older or vulnerable person harmed by abuse, neglect, or exploitation recovers two times the actual damages, plus attorney fees and costs for recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice. |
This statute separates a nursing home case from an ordinary injury claim. |
|
Mandatory reporting |
Facility employees, nurses, doctors, and social workers must report to APS or police within 24 hours; a knowing violation is a misdemeanor. |
A facility that sat on a report broke this law, and that failure is evidence. |
|
Patient rights and facility reports |
No aversive interventions, restraints only as the statutes allow, a violation report to the state within 24 hours, a corrective plan within 30 days, and no retaliation against anyone who reports. |
The 24-hour report and the corrective plan are documents; if the facility cannot produce them, that is evidence the rules were not followed. |
|
Filing deadline |
Two years to file a lawsuit for an injury or a death caused by another person’s wrongful act or neglect. |
The clock runs while a family is still deciding. |
|
Arbitration agreements, |
A nursing home that takes Medicare or Medicaid cannot require binding arbitration as a condition of admission or continued care, must explain the agreement in a language the resident understands, and must allow rescission within 30 calendar days of signing. |
An arbitration clause in the admission packet does not end your claim. Bring the packet to the consultation. |
Have you or a loved one suffered from nursing home abuse?
Not sure whether what you saw counts as abuse or neglect? Call (702) 382-0000 and talk it through for free.
FAQ About Nursing Home Abuse Cases in Las Vegas
Get a Free Consultation With a Las Vegas Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
If you or a loved one was hurt in a Las Vegas or Henderson nursing home, call or start your free consultation online. We answer day and night.
Nursing Home Abuse Resources and Related Claims
Neglect that causes a death becomes a wrongful death claim, and a nursing home accident or injury case is part of our broader Las Vegas personal injury practice.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, talk to a qualified Nevada attorney.
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