Cogburn Davidson | September 23, 2025 | Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing homes have a fundamental duty to protect their residents from harm. Yet many facilities fail to implement basic security measures that could prevent incidents. If your loved one has been harmed due to inadequate security at a nursing home, you need an attorney.
With over four decades of collective experience, the award-winning litigators at Cogburn Davidson Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers have secured hundreds of millions in insurance settlements and judgments. We understand how overwhelming it feels when someone you love suffers harm due to nursing home negligence. Schedule your free consultation with an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer to pursue justice and compensation.
What Are the Risks of Inadequate Security in Nursing Homes?
Security lapses in nursing facilities create multiple layers of risk for your loved one. The dangers of negligent long-term care extend beyond physical injuries to include emotional trauma and financial exploitation. Recognizing these risks is essential to holding a facility accountable when it fails in its duty to protect residents and to pursue the compensation your loved one deserves.
Physical Risks
Poor security measures expose nursing home residents to numerous physical dangers that can result in serious injuries, assault, or even death. These incidents often occur during evening hours when staffing is minimal and security protocols are most lax:
- Unauthorized visitor access
- Resident-on-resident violence
- Sexual assault
- Theft of medical equipment
- Elopement incidents
- Staff assault
- Medication theft
Emotional and Psychological Risks
The psychological impact of living in an unsafe environment can be just as damaging as physical harm to elderly residents. Too often, residents suffer in silence, afraid or ashamed to report security issues to their families, leading to:
- Chronic anxiety
- Depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Fear of reporting incidents
- Social isolation
- Loss of dignity
- Diminished quality of life
Financial Risks
Negligent security frequently leads to financial exploitation that can devastate a resident’s life savings and future care options. Predators specifically target nursing homes with weak security systems, knowing vulnerable residents make easy victims:
- Identity theft
- Stolen personal belongings
- Financial abuse by visitors
- Unauthorized credit card use
- Forged checks
- Coerced changes to wills
- Missing cash or valuables
What Are the Legal Protections for Inadequate Security in Nursing Homes?
Nevada law provides multiple avenues for holding nursing homes accountable when they fail to implement proper security measures. These legal protections recognize that facilities have a duty to keep residents safe from harm. Our team leverages these laws to pursue justice and obtain compensation for affected families.
Premises Liability Law
Under Nevada’s premises liability framework, nursing homes owe different levels of care depending on a person’s legal status on the property:
- Invitees: Residents and their authorized visitors receive the highest protection, as facilities must regularly inspect for hazards and promptly address any security issues that could cause harm.
- Licensees: Individuals on the property for their own purposes, such as delivery personnel, must be warned of any known dangerous conditions that aren’t immediately apparent.
- Trespassers: Even unauthorized individuals cannot be intentionally harmed, though facilities owe them minimal duty unless they’re discovered on the property.
Elder Abuse and Neglect Laws
Nevada Revised Statutes 200.5092 defines elder abuse to include neglect and failure to provide necessary care. When nursing homes fail to implement adequate security measures, they may face criminal charges alongside civil liability. Our nursing home abuse attorneys in Las Vegas collaborate with Adult Protective Services to ensure that facilities are held fully accountable for security failures.
Nursing Home Reform Act
Federal regulations under 42 CFR 483.12 require nursing homes to protect residents from abuse and neglect. Facilities must develop and implement written policies to prevent security breaches and protect residents. Our lawyers use these federal standards to establish the baseline of care your loved one should have received.
Henry’s Law
The Nevada Assembly Bill grants residents and their representatives the right to install electronic monitoring devices in their rooms, provided they obtain proper consent. When facilities refuse to allow cameras or fail to protect recorded evidence of security breaches, they are in violation of state law. We use these violations to demonstrate how facilities actively prevented families from documenting negligent security measures that endangered their loved ones.
What Are the Underlying Causes of Inadequate Security in Nursing Homes?
Multiple factors contribute to security failures in nursing facilities, often stemming from profit-driven decisions that prioritize cost-cutting over resident safety:
- Understaffing
- Inadequate employee screening
- Poor staff training
- Broken security equipment
- Lack of visitor monitoring
- Insufficient lighting
- Absence of security personnel
- Failure to repair locks
- Missing surveillance systems
How Do You Prove Inadequate Security in a Nursing Home?
Establishing negligent security requires demonstrating specific elements that show the facility failed to meet its legal obligations:
- Foreseeability: We must demonstrate that the nursing home was aware of or should have been aware of security risks based on prior incidents, crime statistics, or obvious vulnerabilities in their security systems.
- Breach of Duty: Evidence must demonstrate the facility failed to implement reasonable security measures that similar facilities would have used under comparable circumstances.
- Causation: Documentation must establish a direct link between the security failure and the harm your loved one suffered, showing proper security would have prevented the incident.
- Damages: Medical records, psychological evaluations, and financial documents prove the physical, emotional, and economic losses resulting from the security breach.
Security Measures to Look for in Nursing Homes
Facilities should maintain comprehensive security protocols that protect residents while respecting their dignity and autonomy. These measures include:
- Controlled entry systems
- Visitor sign-in procedures
- Security cameras in common areas
- Adequate outdoor lighting
- Functioning door locks
- Regular security assessments
- Emergency response protocols
- Staff identification badges
- Wandering prevention systems
What Compensation Is Available for Negligent Security Claims?
Victims of nursing home security failures may recover various forms of compensation to address the full scope of their losses. These include economic and intangible damages:
- Medical expenses
- Future care costs
- Therapy expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Lost property value
- Diminished quality of life
- Punitive damages
- Wrongful death damages
Do I Need a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer for Inadequate Security?
Inadequate security in a nursing home is a severe form of negligence. These cases require careful investigation to uncover repeated security failures and corporate decisions that prioritized profits over protection.
A nursing home abuse attorney at Cogburn Davidson Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers can fight for your loved one by holding the facility accountable and fighting to secure the justice and compensation your family deserves. We work closely with security experts, former facility administrators, and medical professionals to build strong, evidence-based cases that expose systemic security failures.
Consult an Experienced Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Now
In Nevada, victims typically have only two years from the date of injury to file a claim, and certain circumstances can shorten this deadline. Seeking legal counsel immediately is critical to protect your loved one and hold negligent nursing homes accountable. Prompt action ensures that those responsible for inadequate security face justice and that vulnerable residents receive the protection and dignity they deserve.
Schedule your free consultation with an experienced nursing home abuse attorney at Cogburn Davidson Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers today. We stand ready to advocate for the safety and legal rights of your loved one. Our firm aggressively pursues maximum compensation through relentless negotiations and strategic litigation.