How to Report Abuse at Assisted Living Facilities

There is nothing more devastating than to find out an elderly person is being mistreated. Many seniors living in assisted living facilities have been place in these homes and sometimes forgotten. There are some individuals who feel that if a person has no family around they can just mistreat them. There are steps that you can take to report abuse in cases like this.

• Determine what type of abuse is going on. Make sure you have your dates and facts about the alleged abuse. Make a record of the names, locations and exactly what was said and done.

• Protect the elderly person. If the elderly person is in immediate physical harm, you will need to call 911 right away. Make sure you stay with the person until the police arrive, but make sure you both are safe.

• Use the chain of command at the assisted nursing facility. If you are a staff member and suspect abuse, you will need to report the abuse to your supervisor. If your supervisor is the one that is doing the abuse, you will need to go to their supervisor.

• Talk to the Director of Nurses (DON). The DON is the person in charge of all the nurses. These nurses are working under the DON's license. If you suspect one of the nurses are causing harm to the patients, you need to speak with the DON right away.

• Use the abuse hotline. Most facilities have an abuse hotline where staff members can call in anonymous to report certain abuse cases.

• Report the incident to the state. If you have tried to talk to your supervisor and the Director of Nurses and feel the appropriate actions have not been taken, you will need to file a complaint with your state. The state will usually come out to the nursing facility to investigate the incident in 24hours.