Florida Nursing Home Lawyer Blog
A number of recent cases of falls in nursing homes across the country underscore the danger peril in which it places elderly residents, and also the wide scope of the problem.
The first report follows a number of incidents at six nursing homes throughout Connecticut, where the state Department of Public Health issued fines after two residents died and several others suffered broken bones as a result of falls. The Hartford Courant reports one facility was fined after two serious falls, one fatal. In the first, a resident fell after the clip on a mechanical sling broke. He suffered a broken bone at the base of his skull and died less than a week later. In the second incident, a resident suffered a broken risk after an aide wrongly left the the resident alone.
In a third case, a resident on two anticoagulant drugs underwent emergency surgery and died after suffering multiple bruises sustained in several falls that were not immediately reported by the staff nurse. A fourth case in that state involved a resident who fell eight times within three month span, the last time striking his head on a chair and suffering a broken neck. The department alleged nursing home staffers failed to notify a physician for five full days. At that same facility, another resident suffered 22 falls and broke his hip twice in the course of six months. In yet another case, a resident fell an astonishing 34 times, suffering two head injuries and a broken hand. Another resident who fell after an aide failed to use protective legwear when moving a resident from a wheelchair to a bed suffered a laceration that required 11 stitches. Continue reading →