How to Prove Nursing Home Negligence

Nursing home negligence occurs when a facility fails to provide the standard of care required to keep residents safe. When staff ignore care plans, overlook medical needs, or fail to protect residents from foreseeable harm, the facility may be considered negligent under long-term care regulations.

Proving nursing home negligence usually comes down to showing that the facility failed to provide the level of care the law requires — and that this failure caused harm to the resident.

Your legal team typically gathers concrete evidence of neglect, like medical records, care plans, staffing logs, medication charts, photographs of injuries, and witness statements from staff or other residents.

Lawyers may also bring in medical or caregiving experts who can explain how the injury could've been prevented with proper care. Any deviation from the standard of care could serve as powerful evidence of the nursing home failing its duties.

Together, this evidence helps establish a clear picture of what went wrong, why it happened, and how the facility’s actions — or lack of action — directly caused the resident’s injuries.

For over 45 years, Sokolove Law has successfully helped families fight back against nursing home neglect and secure justice. Find out if we can fight for you.

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What Is Considered Negligence in a Nursing Home?

Negligence in a nursing home occurs when staff or management fail to provide the standard of care required to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of residents. This can involve both acts of omission (failing to do something necessary) and acts of commission (doing something that causes harm).

Residents in nursing homes are often vulnerable due to age, illness, or disability, which means lapses in care can lead to serious injury, worsening medical conditions, or even wrongful death.

Common examples of nursing home negligence include:

• Bedsores or pressure ulcers: Failing to regularly reposition immobile residents or provide proper skin care
• Failure to monitor health: Ignoring signs of illness, infection, or deterioration in condition
• Falls and injuries: Unsafe environments or lack of supervision leading to preventable falls
• Improper use of restraints: Using physical or chemical restraints inappropriately
• Medication errors: Giving the wrong medication or dosage, or failing to administer prescribed drugs
• Neglect of basic needs: Inadequate food, water, hygiene, or assistance with daily activities

Determining negligence in a nursing home often requires looking at whether staff acted reasonably and followed established care standards. Family members or legal representatives can document patterns of harm, consult medical experts, and report violations to regulatory agencies.

Negligence doesn’t necessarily have to be intentional. It’s enough that a reasonable nursing home staff member would have acted differently under similar circumstances.

Can You Sue a Nursing Home for Negligence?

Yes, you can sue a nursing home for negligence if the facility's failure to provide proper care directly harmed a resident. Nursing homes have a legal duty to ensure the safety, health, and well-being of those in their care.

When staff or management fail to meet these standards — through neglect, abuse, or unsafe practices — and a resident suffers an injury or illness as a result, the facility can be held legally responsible.

You may be able to sue a nursing home for negligence if you're the:

• Resident who suffered harm due to the facility’s negligence
• Immediate family members, such as adult children or spouses acting on behalf of a loved one
• Estate representatives of deceased residents who passed away due to negligence
• Legal guardians or caregivers with power of attorney appointed to make decisions if the resident is unable to

It’s important to note that eligibility to file a nursing home negligence lawsuit often depends on state laws, the type of harm suffered, and whether there's a direct connection between the nursing home’s negligence and the injury.

Our nursing home negligence lawyers can help determine your eligibility to file a claim and handle the legal process on your behalf if you qualify. Get a free case review now.

How to Prove Negligence in a Nursing Home

Proving negligence in a nursing home requires showing that the facility or staff failed to provide an acceptable standard of care and that this failure directly caused harm. This typically involves demonstrating a clear link between the nursing home's actions and the resulting injury.

Because nursing homes often have detailed records, care plans, and staff reports, gathering and analyzing this evidence is crucial. Documentation, witness testimony, and expert opinions can all play a role in establishing negligence.

Proving nursing home negligence often involves gathering evidence like:

• Eyewitness accounts: Testimony from family members, other residents, or staff who observed neglect or elder abuse
• Expert evaluations: Medical or caregiving experts explain how the harm could have been prevented and how the facility failed to meet standard care protocols
• Facility policies and training records: Evidence of inadequate training, improper procedures, or failure to follow regulatory standards
• Incident reports: Internal documentation of falls, medication errors, or other harmful events
• Medical records and charts: Show the resident’s health before, during, and after incidents of neglect or injury
• Photographs or videos: Visual proof of injuries, bedsores, unsafe conditions, or unsanitary environments
• Staff schedules and logs: Can demonstrate understaffing or lack of proper supervision

Gathering this evidence can take time, and careful documentation is often critical to building a strong case. Experienced nursing home negligence lawyers know what to collect, how to properly interpret records, identify key proof, and connect the evidence to legal standards.

Successfully proving negligence not only provides a path for compensation for the resident’s suffering but can also help hold the facility accountable and improve care for others.

Filing a Nursing Home Negligence Lawsuit

Filing a nursing home negligence lawsuit involves taking legal action against a facility that failed to provide adequate care and caused harm to a resident. These lawsuits seek compensation and justice for families affected by neglect.

Nursing home negligence lawsuits often involve complex medical and legal issues, so working with a legal team is essential. The process generally begins with a thorough investigation, where an attorney gathers key evidence, including medical records, staff logs, incident reports, and witness statements.

Filing a nursing home negligence lawsuit often involves:

• Investigating Your Case to Determine Your Eligibility: Listening to your story and doing some digging to find out if your case qualifies
• Gathering Evidence to Prove Negligence: Collecting records, witness statements, and expert opinions to establish negligence
• Filing the Nursing Home Lawsuit: Submitting a formal document to the court outlining the allegations, harm, and compensation sought
• Discovery Phase: Exchanging information with the nursing home, deposing witnesses, and reviewing documents to strengthen your case
• Nursing Home Negligence Settlement Negotiations: Attempting to resolve the claim out of court, which many facilities prefer
• Representing You in Court: Presenting evidence before a judge or jury to determine liability and damages in that rare event that a settlement isn't reached

Documenting injuries, medical treatments, and related expenses is critical, as these details form the backbone of the claim. Many cases also rely on expert testimony from medical or caregiving professionals to show that the harm could have been prevented with proper care.

How Much Can You Sue a Nursing Home for Negligence?

The average nursing home negligence settlement is around $400,000 — but our firm has successfully secured over $1 Million for many clients. The amount can vary widely depending on the severity of the harm, the resident’s medical expenses, pain and suffering, and any lasting impact on quality of life.

Every case is unique, and any potential payout depends on the evidence, the strength of the claim, and the ability to prove the nursing home’s responsibility. We'll fight hard to get your family the results they deserve.

Past Nursing Home Negligence Cases

Nursing home negligence cases can have devastating consequences for residents and their families, ranging from serious injuries to death.

These cases often involve failures such as understaffing, improper medical care, unsanitary conditions, or even abuse, which can be part of broader patterns of negligence within a facility.

Examples of past nursing home negligence cases include:

• $43.5 Million: An elderly resident at a Georgia facility died after suffering malnutrition, dehydration, and an untreated broken hip. The jury found evidence of severe neglect, unsanitary conditions, and misuse of Medicaid funds.
• $18.2 Million: An elderly woman in Rhode Island suffered a heart attack due to lack of care.
• $9.5 Million: A 51‑year-old assisted-living resident with cerebral palsy died from sepsis and pneumonia caused by untreated pressure ulcers. The facility failed to provide proper wound care.
• $1.2 Million: A disabled resident was injured when a facility-operated van crashed during transport. Staff had failed to properly secure her wheelchair.
• $7.5 Million: In Pennsylvania, a nursing home resident with dementia was sexually assaulted by a fellow resident. The facility was accused of failing to conduct proper background checks of the perpetrator, who was a registered sex offender and had been convicted of rape.
• $13.2 Million: An 87‑year-old resident in New Jersey developed severe stage 4 pressure ulcers, lost significant weight, underwent multiple surgeries, and died. The award was later invalidated and a new trial ordered.
• $30.9 Million: In California, a resident developed unstageable heel pressure sores during a brief stay. The wounds progressed to fatal infection due to chronic understaffing and negligent care.

The outcomes of nursing home negligence cases vary widely, depending on the severity of the harm, the evidence of neglect, and the ability to demonstrate systemic failures.

Why You Need a Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer

Hiring a nursing home negligence lawyer is crucial because these cases often involve complex medical, legal, and regulatory issues that can be overwhelming for families. Nursing homes often have teams of attorneys whose goal is to minimize liability, leaving families at a disadvantage without professional guidance.

A skilled lawyer ensures that your loved one’s experience is fully recognized, that the facility is held accountable, and that you have a clear path to pursue justice and compensation.

A nursing home negligence lawyer can help:

• Stand up to powerful nursing home chains and insurers who may try to minimize or deny your claim
• Your loved one’s story be heard and their suffering recognized through the justice system
• Hold the nursing home accountable for neglect, abuse, or systemic failures in care
• Gather the evidence needed to prove negligence, including patterns of mistreatment that might otherwise go unnoticed
• Investigate systemic issues to determine if the facility prioritizes profit over resident safety.
• Prevent cover-ups by ensuring documentation, staff actions, and incidents are fully examined
• Seek the most compensation possible for medical bills, pain and suffering, transfer to a safer facility, and more

Having a nursing home negligence lawyer on your side strengthens your case and helps provide peace of mind that your loved one’s rights are being protected.

Your legal team will fight on your loved one's behalf, helping bring justice and accountability to a broken system.

Find a Nursing Home Negligence Attorney Near You

As a national nursing home negligence law firm, Sokolove Law is proud to help families seek justice, accountability, and compensation after abuse or neglect.

Our nursing home negligence attorneys have:

• Decades of experience holding nursing homes accountable
• Recovered more than $318 Million in nursing home compensation
• Helped thousands of families with nursing home complaints across all 50 states
• No upfront charges, no hourly fees, and no out-of-pocket costs

Get a free case review or call (800) 995-1212 now to find a nursing home negligence attorney near you. It costs nothing to learn more about your options.