How to Report Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Reporting nursing home abuse and neglect serves two purposes: protecting your loved one and building your legal case. Step 1: If there is immediate danger, call 911. Step 2: Report to your state's Long-Term Care Ombudsman — every state has one, and they investigate complaints confidentially. Step 3: Report to your state's Adult Protective Services (APS). Step 4: Report to the state health department, which licenses nursing homes and can conduct unannounced inspections. Step 5: File a complaint with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at medicare.gov. Step 6: Document everything — photographs of injuries, written notes of conversations with staff, copies of medical records. Step 7: Consult a nursing home neglect attorney — they can conduct their own investigation, obtain facility records, and identify patterns of neglect that strengthen your case. Government investigations and your civil lawsuit proceed independently — you can pursue both simultaneously.