Collecting Evidence in Toledo Nursing Home Negligence Cases

To succeed in a negligence claim involving a nursing home resident, the injured party or their family must establish the elements of negligence.

Duty of Care

Nursing homes owe a duty of care to their residents.

Skilled nursing facilities must deliver safe care that meets residents’ physical, emotional, and mental needs.

Facilities should also be safe, clean, and hygienic.

Staff should ensure residents receive adequate food and medical attention and have opportunities to socialize with other residents and visitors.

Breach of Duty of Care

Nursing homes must uphold their duty of care.

When a nursing home fails to provide each resident with a safe environment or meet their other needs, it breaches that duty of care.

For example, if a nursing home fails to reposition a resident regularly, it violates the duty of care by neglecting the resident’s medical or physical needs.

Injury Caused by a Breach

A diligent legal team could demonstrate that a nursing home’s failure to meet a resident’s needs caused them to suffer an injury.

In the previous example, an attorney could help a family demonstrate that the resident developed bedsores from staying in the same position for too long.

Actual Damages

The final element in a negligence claim is proof of actual damages.

A compassionate legal team could help a family show that the resident suffered serious harm due to the bedsores, which caused the resident pain, suffering, and humiliation.

Our Toledo attorneys could help the family of an injured assisted living facility resident demonstrate liability by collecting sufficient evidence to prove that all elements of negligence occurred.

Evidence that the family of an injured nursing home resident could use to establish negligence includes:

• Video footage or photographs from surveillance cameras
• Photographs showing proof of injuries
• Statements from the injured resident
• Witness statements from employees or other residents
• Medical records
• Hiring and staff records
• Training protocols

To secure evidence in a negligence case, our Toledo-based legal team could visit the nursing home and use proper legal procedures to access the resident’s medical records.

A careful review of the facility’s employee and hiring manuals could highlight whether the facility has sufficient skilled staff and provides appropriate training.

Our attorneys could also search for other cases to see if the facility had a prior history of negligence and carefully interview other residents and former employees to learn about the facility’s practices.

Unfortunately, many residents are unable or unwilling to speak out against their nursing homes, leaving it to families to search for evidence.

If your loved one suffered harm in a skilled nursing facility, working with an attorney experienced in the investigative techniques for collecting evidence in Toledo nursing home negligence cases could help.

Call our law office at Zoll & Kranz, to set up a preliminary consultation.

Our legal team could help you hold the people responsible for your or your loved one’s harm accountable.