What Is Considered Negligence in a Nursing Home in 2025?

Negligence in a nursing home occurs when a facility or its staff fails to provide residents with the level of care that a reasonable facility would under similar circumstances. This lack of care can cause injury, illness, or emotional harm or create conditions that put residents at risk.

Examples of nursing home negligence include:

• Emotional or psychological neglect, such as isolating residents or ignoring their mental health needs
• Failure to assist with daily care, like eating, bathing, dressing, or using the restroom
• Failure to prevent or treat bedsores, leading to life-threatening infections like sepsis
• Inadequate supervision, especially for residents prone to wandering or self-harm
• Medical neglect, including missed treatments, delayed care, or failure to monitor health conditions
• Medication errors, such as giving the wrong drug or dosage
• Unsafe environments, like cluttered walkways or broken equipment, which can cause falls or injuries

“Chronic neglect of nursing home residents is absolutely unacceptable, yet sadly all too common.”

– Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel

Negligence doesn’t have to be intentional. It can be due to carelessness, inattention, or failure to follow proper procedures. Find out more about what nursing home negligence is, how these cases work, and what proof is needed below.

Understanding Nursing Home Negligence Cases

In legal terms, nursing home negligence happens when a facility breaches its duty of care — the duty to keep residents safe and healthy — and that breach directly leads to harm.

Nursing home negligence cases often involve withholding a resident’s basic needs, like food, water, or attention. They can also involve a failure to act responsibly, leading to harm or injury.

Nursing home negligence cases typically involve:

1. Breach of duty: The facility or staff failed to meet accepted standards of care.
2. Causation: The resident was harmed because of that failure.
3. Damages: The resident suffered physical, emotional, or financial losses.
4. Duty of care: The nursing home had a legal responsibility to care for the resident.

When negligence results in injuries or wrongful death, families may be able to take legal action. A nursing home lawsuit can help hold facilities accountable and provide compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and more.

How to Prove Nursing Home Negligence

Proving nursing home negligence requires showing that the facility failed to meet an accepted standard of care and that this failure directly caused harm. This process often involves combining medical evidence, facility records, and expert testimony to establish fault.

An experienced nursing home negligence lawyer can handle this complex investigation. Attorneys who focus on elder neglect cases know how to uncover internal records, interview witnesses, and work with medical experts to prove that negligence occurred.

Evidence to prove negligence in nursing home cases includes:

• Documented damages: Bills, receipts, or records demonstrating the physical, emotional, or financial harm suffered
• Expert testimony: Medical or care professionals who can explain how the facility’s conduct fell below professional standards and caused the injury
• Internal documentation: Staffing schedules, care logs, or incident reports that reveal understaffing, neglect, or policy violations
• Medical records: Doctor’s notes, hospital charts, or test results showing untreated wounds, infections, or other nursing home injuries
• Photographic or video evidence: Images documenting visible injuries, bedsores, unsanitary environments, or safety hazards
• Witness statements: Testimony from staff, residents, or family members who observed neglect or abuse

A nursing home neglect lawyer can collect this evidence on your behalf, strengthening your case and increasing your chances of securing compensation for your loved one’s suffering.

How Much Can You Sue a Nursing Home for Negligence?

The amount you can sue a nursing home for negligence varies widely depending on the severity of the harm, the evidence, and the jurisdiction.

On average, nursing home cases settle for around $400,000, but some can be much higher, especially if the negligence caused serious injury, long-term medical complications, or death.

Factors that can affect the amount include:

• Severity of injuries: Serious physical harm, permanent disability, or wrongful death increases potential awards
• Medical expenses: Past and future costs for treatment, therapy, or long-term care
• Pain and suffering: Emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and trauma caused by neglect
• Negligence evidence: Clear documentation, expert testimony, and proof of preventable harm, which can strengthen the case
• State laws: Damages in nursing home lawsuits may be capped in some states but not in others

While $400,000 is the average settlement, every case is unique, and amounts can range from tens of thousands for minor injuries to millions for catastrophic or fatal outcomes.

Nursing Home Negligence Case Amounts

Nursing home negligence cases can result in significant verdicts and settlements when evidence shows that a facility’s failures caused severe harm. These awards hold nursing homes accountable for putting vulnerable residents in harm’s way.

Nursing home negligence lawsuit settlements and verdicts include:

• $30 million to the family of an 86-year-old retired professor and civil rights activist who died from pressure ulcers during a 2-week stay at Pine Creek Care Center in California
• $19.2 million for the family of an 86-year-old woman at The Forum at Desert Harbor in Arizona who died after developing a bedsore that became infected
• $11 million for staff’s failure to recognize and treat a Florida resident’s infection, leading to septic shock and permanent brain damage
• $5.5 million to the family of a resident at Landmark of Richton Park in Illinois who missed 13 days of dialysis, leading to fatal injuries
• $4.5 million from six Detroit-area facilities owned by Villa Financial Services and Villa Olympia Investment after investigators found the homes provided negligent care
• $19 million to the estate of a 70-year-old woman who died after receiving substandard care at Brinton Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Delaware

These nursing home negligence cases show that facilities can be held accountable when neglect leads to serious injury or death. A lawsuit can provide compensation, expose dangerous practices, and push facilities to provide safer, higher-quality care.

Get Help From a Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer

If your loved one was abused or neglected in a long-term care facility, your family deserves answers and justice. At LawFirm.com, we can connect you with experienced nursing home negligence lawyers in all 50 states who can hold negligent facilities accountable.

Our nursing home neglect lawyers never charge any upfront costs or hourly fees. Together, they’ve secured over $318 million for families affected by abuse and neglect in long-term care facilities.

Compensation can help your family work toward healing. A lawsuit may provide funds for medical care, relocation, and emotional recovery.

Call (888) 726-9160 right now or get a free case review to see if one of our trusted legal partners can help your family pursue justice. We’re available 24/7, and it costs nothing to speak with us.