Anyone who follows this blog regularly knows how cases involving nursing home abuse typically play out because, sadly, it almost always happens the same way.The victim is typically unable to communicate effectively. Strokes or dementia likely have robbed the person of the ability to call for help during the abuse, and made him or her not credible in their own defense afterward. Soon, family members begin to notice changes of behavior in their loved one that make them suspect nursing home abuse.They notice that she (the number of females who are the victims of nursing home abuse is much greater than males) begins to shy away from contact. She begins to cry out during visits, and family members notice recurring signs of physical trauma.The family then reports their suspicions of nursing home abuse to the facility’s administration, and the family is assured that no abuse has taken place. The nursing home explains to the family that nursing home abuse is impossible in their facility. They say that nursing home residents often make false claims of theft and abuse against staff. They say that it’s all part of becoming accustomed to life in a nursing home.This satisfies the family for a short while, and then they purchase a video surveillance system or a hidden camera to watch over their loved one. They do this more for their peace of mind than because they suspect that nursing home abuse is actually taking place.The hidden cameras are cheap and the picture is grainy. Sometimes they are disguised as a clock or a stuffed animal. Sometimes they aren’t hidden at all. Then, within days, they capture horrific instances of nursing home abuse.Cases almost exactly like this have happened very recently in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Oklahoma. Earlier this month, two nurse’s aides in Oklahoma were arrested for assaulting a 96-year-old woman. The hidden camera video has been determined to be too disturbing to be released.The case has caused a debate concerning video surveillance in nursing home rooms. For many, this should be an obvious solution. Detractors, typically members of the nursing home industry, feel that it would be a violation of the resident’s privacy.If you have a loved one that you feel may have been abused in a nursing home, and you want to put a video camera in their room, you should contact a nursing home lawyer in your state who is familiar with your state’s laws on privacy.