While aging means a higher risk of experiencing serious injuries, such as falls, nursing homes are institutions that have constant attention and surveillance to avoid problems that can become fatal. Falls represent a risk that vulnerable adults are exposed to every day. Although some are inevitable, others are due to negligence in nursing homes. Falls should be taken seriously due to all the consequences that they can carry. At Phoenix Accident and Injury Law Firm, we understand how frustrating these situations can be. We will support you during the legal process and help you obtain your deserved compensation.
Are Nursing Home Falls a Frequent Issue?
Falls in a nursing home are a common issue that vulnerable adults may suffer from. Most causes are related to chronic health issues such as osteoporosis, arthritis, cognitive impairments, or others that prevent them from performing daily activities. Most falls in nursing homes are preventable despite the increasing risk due to age.
Statistics on Falls in Nursing Homes
Nursing homes and falls are frequently used together because there are 1.6 million residents in nursing home facilities; about half suffer a fall annually. Moreover, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, about 1 in 3 residents will fall again a second or third time within a year.
The CDC shows that nearly 319,000 elderly adults are hospitalized for hip fractures. According to the data on patient falls in nursing homes, one out of 10 older people has an injury that will restrict their activities for days, weeks, months, or years. Falls are responsible for about 83% of hip fracture deaths and 88% of emergency department and hospitalization visits.
Why Do Falls Happen in Nursing Homes?
Depending on the cause of the fall, like aging or cognitive impairment, some of them are related to staff negligence or nursing home conditions. Some factors related to falls in a nursing home are the following:
- Poor lighting
- Wet floors
- Unstable furniture or bed wheels
- Uneven floor or steps, throw rugs, etc
- Cluttered living spaces
- Footwear is not adequate for elderly residents
- Inaccessible personal items
- Unsafe personal care items
- Hazardous equipment, such as a defective wheelchair
- Lack of supervision
- Don’t follow safety protocols
Common Injuries from Falls in Nursing Homes
Falls include several variables that can lead to consequences and terrifying scenarios for you and your loved ones. Experienced falls are a scary situation, and some common injuries include:
- Fractures: Usually occur in the hips, wrists, and arms of elderly adults who suffer a fall. This may be associated with osteoporosis.
- Concussion or Head trauma: A concussion can aggravate the cognitive impairment or produce a mobility limitation, or even internal bleeding.
- Spinal injuries: Aging is prone to reducing cells and body parts, and if a fall happens, the vulnerable adult can suffer from chronic pain, limited mobility, or paralysis, depending on the severity of the damage received because of the nursing home fall.
Fatalities Due to Falls in Nursing Homes
Falls can be fatal for older residents in nursing homes; even 20% of deaths from falls occur among residents above age 65. The risk of a wrongful death is there due to all the complications related to the fall. If your loved ones passed due to a preventable fall, we understand how hard it can be to overcome this situation. At Phoenix Accident and Injury Law Firm, we will help you seek justice and obtain the compensation you deserve.
What to Do After a Fall in a Nursing Home
If a loved one suffered a fall in a nursing home, you entrust them to care for them. You must put aside those overwhelming emotions because the priority is to find medical attention. Some steps you must follow are:
1. Seek medical assistance or have a doctor perform a complete evaluation to diagnose and determine the severity of the injury.
2. Document everything with photos, videos, or detailed witness statements. In some cases, you will have access to surveillance footage that can support your case.
3. Ask for your loved ones' medication records and an expert statement to support your case.
4. Find legal assistance to obtain expert advice on how to move forward with your case.
Can You File a Lawsuit for a Nursing Home Fall?
Filing a nursing home fall lawsuit is a complex task due to the variables involved in the case. Each case is unique because the injuries can have more or less severity; in these cases, you may be entitled to pursue a lawsuit against the nursing home. However, you will find that there are repetitive circumstances that can lead you to file a claim, such as:
- Negligence: if the nursing home is involved in negligence and abuse that doesn’t address the environmental hazards, undertrained staff, broken equipment, cluttered hallways, or poor treatment, the institution may be liable for falls.
- Lack of supervision: When an elderly resident falls, this may indicate that the staff didn’t assist the resident when needed.
- Duty of care violations: Nursing home staff must ensure the safety of their residents, which means they must have nursing home fall interventions, prevention, and fall safety protocols to ensure the wellness of their loved ones.
Legal Options After a Fall in a Nursing Home
If you want to file a nursing home fall lawsuit due to an accident related to any liable reason in a nursing home, you must understand the process of filing a claim and the potential outcomes. The steps you may take to file a lawsuit are these:
- Document everything with photos, videos, or written statements from the witnesses, and your loved one
- Request all the medical bills, medication reports, medical visits, and everything related to the fall
- Ask for a report on the safety protocol of the nursing home and records of similar cases.
- Contact an expert attorney in nursing home fall lawsuits to help you in the legal process and avoid possible mistakes in your documentation. Moreover, you will have representation if your case reaches the court.
- The settlements for nursing home fall lawsuits start at around $400,000 and scale up to $5 million. If you are considering filing a claim for a nursing home fall, you will have between one and six years; however, the average time to file your claim is two years from the event.
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Strategies to Prevent Falls in Nursing Homes
Nursing home staff care for residents and provide adequate treatments based on their needs, including the risk of falls and extra surveillance for those with a higher probability of falls. Other safety protocols these institutions must follow are:
Bathroom checks:
Constant and frequent help for those residents who require more attention will prevent them from falling into these situations, since bathrooms are one of the locations where most falls happen.Bed adjustments:
Typically, residents at a higher risk of falling require lower beds. These beds usually use rails to prevent these vulnerable residents from getting out of bed without assistance and reduce the chances of leaving without supervision.Staff needs:
Having a well-trained and prepared staff and an adequate number of them can be the best option to avoid nursing home falls that require constant supervision and help.Conclusion
Falls in nursing homes are a serious issue where elderly residents may suffer if the quality of care is poor or negligence is present. Numerous nursing home residents experience falls annually that often result in different injuries. At Phoenix Accident and Injury Law Firm, our attorneys are ready to help you in your legal journey of filing a nursing home fall lawsuit. We will support you beyond the legal process; we want to restore the peace and obtain the compensation you deserve. Schedule a free consultation today and tell us your story.
FAQs:
If a resident falls, the staff should avoid moving them unless unsafe conditions appear. Afterward, you or the staff should call for medical assistance. In most cases, if you are present, we recommend documenting the incident or asking for the nursing home report. Doctors can provide and find the causes of falls once they evaluate vulnerable adults and provide updated care plans to prevent recurrence.
The prevention of falls is usually individualized depending on the risk. It’s essential to understand fall-risk assessments to avoid possible situations, including cluttered environments, slippy flooring, inadequate lighting, lack of assistive devices, under-trained staff, irregular mobility assistance, and missing medication reviews.
Yes, nursing homes have the obligation to report falls to state regulatory agencies and document them internally. They must notify you if the incident involves your loved ones. They must send you a report detailing serious injuries or hospitalizations, but if a minor incident happens, they may reserve the notification for you and only report it during inspections.
If an elderly resident suffers a fall in a nursing home, staff should ensure the resident’s safety and provide urgent care. It’s crucial to avoid moving the vulnerable adult unless necessary. They must assess the injuries and then notify supervisors and the direct family. Nursing homes must conduct an analysis of the event to find the root cause of the incident and adjust care plans.
If your loved ones suffered a fall while in a nursing home, you may file a complaint with state licensing agencies, pursue a negligence nursing home fall lawsuit if the cause was due to poor staffing or unsafe conditions, or report to ombudsmen. Depending on evidence or regulatory violations, you will use any of these legal options to seek justice.
To gather information when you were not there when your loved one fell, we recommend you review incident reports, staff accounts, surveillance footage in case they are available, care plans, and nursing home maintenance records. It’s crucial to understand if fall protocols, staffing levels, and preventive protocol measures were implemented correctly when the fall occurred.
State health departments and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulate fall prevention measures in nursing homes. The CMS regulates and mandates fall prevention under the Nursing Home Reform Act, requiring facilities to create safe environments and individualized care plans for each vulnerable adult.
According to federal standards (42 CFR § 483.25), nursing homes are required to assess fall risks, implement personalized interventions, properly train staff, maintain hazard-free environments, and monitor residents’ conditions to reduce accidents.
Contact Us Today!
If you or a loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse, contact the Nursing Home Abuse Law Firm in nearby Chandler, AZ, to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney. We provide personal injury legal services to clients in your area, including Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Peoria.
