When you leave your loved one in the care of a nursing home, you expect the best from a facility that promises a healthy, safe, nurturing living environment. But what happens when a facility doesn’t deliver on those promises?
Abuse and neglect in nursing homes can be physically, emotionally, and financially devastating for vulnerable victims and their families. As skilled staffing availability at assisted living and nursing facilities across the nation, families and nursing home residents suffer from the negligence and inattention that low staffing levels can cause.
If your loved one has been the victim of neglect or exploitation at a nursing home, you may wonder how to report nursing home neglect, or whether pursuing a case is even worthwhile. Fortunately, the experienced team at Burg Simpson has won victories for nursing home abuse victims and has answers for your questions.
What Is Nursing Home Mistreatment?
Nursing home mistreatment may look like neglect, physical or sexual abuse, or exploitation by a caretaker of an adult who isn’t able to care for themselves, whether thatap due to cognitive issues like dementia or physical disabilities.
Sometimes, multiple issues can compound on one another. In 2025, two were arrested and charged with criminal negligence, complicity, and abusing an at-risk adult after allegedly covering up details about how a 92-year-old woman with dementia in their care suffered a broken leg.
While not every nursing home fosters a neglectful or abusive environment, these conditions can thrive at facilities that are understaffed. Nationwide, nursing homes now provide of care per resident each day than they did 10 years ago, largely because registered nurses and nurse aides work fewer hours overall. On a national level, employee numbers at nursing homes dipped post-pandemic.
“When a nursing home doesn’t have enough people working, they can lose track of individuals. These facilities are supposed to have a secure environment,” said Burg Simpson Shareholder Stephen Burg. “When they’re understaffed, then residents can wander out into the public, get injured and not have immediate care or somebody finding them right away,”
Nursing home neglect is not an inevitability. If you are helping a loved one relocate to a nursing home or assisted living facility, be sure to research that facility through the . You can also speak with your area’s , who is tasked with advocating for adult care facility residents and can help guide you to a trusted facility.
Burg also recommends that once your loved one is situated in a facility, you stay in contact with your resident and their care staff, using knowledge and regular observation to help you scan for neglect.
How Do I Report Nursing Home Neglect?
Wondering what to do if you suspect nursing home neglect on behalf of a loved one? Burg recommends acting quickly and documenting everything.
Colorado residents have a number of resources available for reporting neglect, including:
- A report to the (APS) program – If you reasonably suspect abuse or neglect, you can file a report with APS, which investigates cases involving at-risk adults and abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
- A report to the facility – Itap important that you document any concerning incidents in writing with the nursing home in question. Burg recommends emailing facility management to immediately report the details of an incident, including the date, the people involved, and the number of times it has occurred. If nothing else, your written report will be useful documentation in court.
- A regulatory complaint – The state’s Department of Public Health and Environment regulates nursing homes and assisted living facilities and
Whatap My Legal Recourse?
Families who have pursued the above resources also have legal options available. In the case of nursing home abuse and neglect, families can file a civil personal injury suit against the involved facility.
If you’re interested in pursuing a personal injury case, itap important to quickly retain a skilled nursing home neglect lawyer like the shareholders at Burg Simpson. A personal injury case puts the burden of proof on the plaintiff pursuing the case, meaning you’ll need to show that the involved facility owed care to the victim, that the facility breached that duty, that the breach caused the injury you’re suing for, and that the victim was damaged by the injury.
If your case claims abuse, not negligence, you’ll also have to show intent on the Defendantap part. Documentation of what the nursing home promised, the services you paid for, the initial assessment of your loved one on admittance, and any injury or changes to your loved one is essential to making a personal injury case.
Today, Burg said, some nursing homes will try to push families of victims into an arbitration process rather than a jury trial. In arbitration, a legal claim is heard by a private judge rather than going through the public civil justice system.
“People will argue that arbitration sometimes is faster to get a ruling or a result, but it can end up being the same amount of time as a jury trial and more expensive as well,” Burg said.
The process can be successful for some families, but arbitration means a case’s proceedings are kept private rather than being open to the public, as in civil court. When it comes to nursing facilities that want to keep abuse and neglect quiet, a public, civil process can sometimes provide valuable resources and information for other families down the line.
“Letap say a nursing home has had four instances where they failed the patient’s safety, and each time that the patient was seriously injured or killed, they go to arbitration, and maybe people don’t know about it,” Burg said. “Now, it’s harder to understand if this is a safe facility for me to put a loved one in or not. I think the advantages of a public courtroom and having a jury decide things is really beneficial for the community.”
If your loved one experiences nursing home neglect, holding the facility publicly accountable can also help challenge the facility’s internal evaluation. A facility may be understaffed to save money, but if administration is held liable for the consequences of that understaffing, they may be forced to consider that, ultimately, correctly staffing the facility will cost less than getting taken to court.
Plaintiffs in these cases can ask for economic damages, which cover the tangible medical expenses a victim or their family may have paid because of neglect; non-economic damages, which account for less tangible effects like a victim’s pain, emotional suffering; and compensation for any physical impairment or disfigurement a victim may have suffered.
However, each state has caps on the damages a plaintiff can receive, making it extra important that you retain a nursing home neglect attorney in Colorado who understands state law on the matter inside and out. If you’re ready to pursue justice for a loved one, can provide a free consultation.
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this postap preparation.
