My father was assaulted by another patient in a Tennessee assisted living facility. Can I bring a claim against the assisted living facility?

Nursing homes and assisted living homes have a duty to take reasonable steps to ensure that patients do not harm one another. In these types of facilities, residents often suffer from various forms of dementia. A patient with dementia may act violent or abusive because they are confused or fearful of their environment. When a nursing home resident attacks another patient, often times it is not their fault because they do not always understand the consequences of their actions.

Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are required to hire competent staff members who are trained to recognize the warning signs of a patient who is likely to hit, kick, beat, or otherwise abuse another resident. Failure to hire competent personnel, failure train the staff, and failure to employee enough staff can lead to assault and even death.

At a minimum, nursing homes and assisted living facilities should:
Investigate every patient’s history of violence before agreeing to admit them
Monitor patients for violent behavior or threatening statements
Listen to family members of other patients who have observed violent behavior
Never leave a violent nursing home patient unsupervised for any period of time

We place our loved ones in nursing homes and assisted living facilities because we think it is the safest option. At Greer Injury Lawyers we have seen the horrible consequences of nursing home neglect. Tennessee law allows you to hold nursing homes and assisted living facilities accountable for their misconduct. If you are concerned about an injury or death of a loved one, contact one of our Tennessee nursing home neglect attorneys for a free consultation.