Nursing home abuse or elder abuse occurs when nursing home staff members:
- Physically harm the resident
- Verbally abuse the resident
- Treat a resident like a baby or show disrespect
- Ignore the resident or give him or her the silent treatment
- Force any type of sexual advances upon a resident, including intimate touching, nudity or sexually explicit photos
- Use or steal a resident’s property or financial information
- Talk to the resident
- Pay attention to anything that seems different or wrong
- Look for bruises and bedsores
- Ask whether everyone on the staff is being kind
- Ask whether anything is missing or needs to be checked
- Notice whether he or she is giving you normal eye contact or is avoiding eye contact
