Articles Posted in Nursing Home Falls

Learning that a loved one has been harmed in a custodial setting due to neglect or abuse is a horror that hopefully most San Diego families will never have to face. But as California’s elderly population ages, the number of seniors living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities is sure to increase. When our San Diego nursing home abuse attorneys evaluate a case involving the custodial treatment of an elderly person, we investigate all issues that might suggest a pattern of neglect instead of what might initially appear to be a single negligent act. Doing so ensures that we obtain all the evidence necessary to make the best case possible. It also can help prevent similar occurrences at the same or other facilities, so that other families do not have to endure the pain of knowing that a loved one was harmed at a California nursing home.

Last week, a jury acknowledged the suffering that families endure when their loved ones are hurt at nursing homes. The jury awarded $8 million in damages to the estate of an elderly man who died shortly after his legs were broken when he was improperly transferred from a chair into his bed. The Courier-Journal reports that the man, who was in his mid-80s, was staying at a nonprofit nursing home.

After the man’s death, his estate hired a nursing home abuse lawyer to sue the negligent facility. The man’s injuries occurred because he was transferred without a lift and was moved by only one nursing assistant, in violation of the nursing home’s care plan, which required two assistants. Most qualified nursing homes maintain a “care plan” for each resident. Care plans should address falls, mobility, pain management, nutrition, bladder and bowels, among other things. Care plans should be updated on a regular basis to accommodate the changing needs of a patient and should be strictly followed. Failure to follow a care plan can lead to serious injury or death, and can be the basis of a San Diego elder neglect lawsuit.

Falls are a serious problem in California nursing homes and can have serious health consequences for elderly residents. The attorneys at the Walton Law Firm know that a nursing home with 100 beds will have approximately 200 falls a year, many of which will go unreported. Nursing facilities should prevent falls for their residents whenever possible. Serious falls in custodial settings can result in death or drastically alter the quality of living for California seniors.

To prevent falls, nursing home residents should be evaluated for their fall risk when they are admitted, and that assessment should be updated as a resident’s condition changes. Caretakers should consider a resident’s medical conditions and other possible risk factors, such as a resident’s overall mobility or access to fall prevention devices such as bed or tab alarms.

According to a report at Petaluma360.com, a Petaluma woman has filed a California nursing home abuse lawsuit, alleging that her 80-year-old mother suffered from malnutrition, dehydration, and infection that resulted in hospitalization due to nursing home negligence, neglect, and misrepresentation. The woman claims that her mother sustained several injuries, including a broken hip, while receiving home care from Accentcare Home Health of California, Inc.

Nursing home falls can occur for a number of reasons such as inadequate fall risk assessment upon admission, inadequate staffing, and/or inadequate supervision. The Petaluma lawsuit alleges that the senior fell while at home because home health care workers left her unattended even though they knew she suffered from dementia and was at risk for falls. Improper monitoring is a common mistake that caretakers in nursing home facilities make. As our attorneys know, those facilities must make provisions for adequate staffing in order to prevent dangerous falls which includes noting the residents that require close observation.

After her fall, the senior in this case lived at Petaluma Health and Rehabilitation where she was to receive more intensive care. While living there, however, the elderly woman was allegedly denied appropriate care and treatment that included food, hydration, wound care, monitoring, and assessment. As a result, she was hospitalized for malnutrition, dehydration, and serious infections. The elderly woman is now in hospice care.

The allegations against the Petaluma Health and Rehabilitation include failure to provide an adequate number of qualified staff to carry out all functions at the facility. The family of the injured woman claims that an employee misrepresented the quality of care that their mother would receive at the facility, namely that their mother would receive the care and services of specialists and staff that did not exist at the facility.

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