When we talk about nursing home abuse, we often talk about reporting the abuse. In Pennsylvania and throughout the nation, reporting the nursing home abuse is an initial step towards stopping future abuse- but what happens if the abuse is reported and nothing happens? This exact scenario recently happened in a nursing home in a neighboring state.

The nursing home abuse occurred when abuse allegation were reported against a 47-year-old male staff member of the nursing home. The alleged abuse was that the staff member, who was nurse aid, sexually assaulted a nursing home resident. Specifically, it was alleged that the nurse aid sexually assaulted a resident that was incapacitated at the time of the alleged sexual assault.

It is claimed the incident was reported to the nursing home's administrator. Many state laws require administrators to report abuse and once the abuse is reported it may be mandatory for the administrator to take specific remedial action. Unfortunately, this apparently did not occur after the incident was reported to the nursing home administrator.

Nursing home abuse can result in both criminal culpability and civil liability- for everyone involved. In this incident, not only is the nurse aid facing criminal charges the nursing home administrator who failed to report the incident also faces criminal charges. The criminal charges may penalize the person who committed the related crime, but civil claims may provide the victim in a nursing home abuse incident with the ability to recover damages that were caused by an abuse incident.

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle, "Va. nursing home worker charged in abuse probe," Aug. 15, 2012