One of the most common accidents that occur to residents in a nursing home are falls. Generally, nursing home residents are already weak and need assistance for day to day activities. Falling can seriously injure and threaten the health of a nursing home patient, causing different types of injuries including hip fracture and the need for surgery. When a nursing home allows a fall to occur, negligence may have occurred.
Falls Due to Nursing Home Negligence
The standard of reasonable care requires nursing homes to take reasonable measures to prevent falls. Unfortunately, residents do fall, in many ways. Some falls occur from issues with the patient, such as:
- Muscle weakness;
- Walking or mobility problems;
- Attempting to move unassisted; and
- Using the wrong mobility assistance equipment, such as walkers, canes, or shoes.
Even though these reasons stem from issues with the patient, the nursing home must be aware of these risks and take extra precautions to protect these patients. The nursing home may still be responsible even if the patient wore the wrong shoes or tried to get out of bed without a cane. Patients depend on nursing home staff to protect them from the risk of falling.
In other types of cases, it is more obvious that the nursing home caused the fall. These falls can occur due to:
- Physical hazards in the nursing home, such as tripping hazards, poor lighting, slippery floors, incorrect bed height or wheelchair size, or poor maintenance of facilities;
- Improper changes in medication or dosage;
- Unsupervised walking or moving around the nursing home; and
- Unsatisfactory preventative measures, such as bed rails or bathroom seats and handles.
Ultimately, regardless of how the incident happened, it is important to document the accident and to be sure that medical care is provided to the injured resident as soon as possible.
Experienced Nursing Home Injury Attorneys Ready to Help
Nursing home falls can usually be avoided with proper preventative measures. Nursing homes must ensure that employees enforce these measures, so as to protect patients under their care. Failure to have or enforce preventative measures can constitute nursing home negligence. If your loved one fell while under the care of a nursing home, contact our experienced nursing home injury attorneys immediately for more information.
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If you have any questions concerning falls caused by nursing home negligence, contact our experienced nursing home injury attorneys for more information by calling (800) 762-9300 or by email . You can also get started by simply filling out one of our case intake forms, and we will have one of our attorneys get right back to you.
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