By Dan Noll on December 8th, 2023 in Nursing Home Abuse
Failing to Protect Residents from Falls: Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in Illinois Explain Nursing Home Falls in Springfield
Falls are the third-leading cause of accidental injuries and death in the United States. However, for Americans who are 65 years or older, falls are the leading cause of injuries or death. According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year in the United States there are 3 million emergency department visits for falls which cost an annual $50 billion in medical costs. Unfortunately, fall injuries and fall deaths have continued to increase in the United States, with fall deaths increasing by a whopping 59% and fall injuries increasing by 19%. This data includes in nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, and long-term care facilities, as well as in the home, hospitals, or other locations. However, nursing home falls in Springfield are often preventable, especially when considering what safety devices might be available to save a loved one but were not used. However, the nursing home abuse lawyers in Illinois at the Noll Law Office know that far too many facilities fail to use these safety measures.
That’s why the Noll Law Office provides victims and their families with free case evaluations to learn more about their rights following nursing home falls in Springfield or anywhere else in Illinois. Their compassionate staff and experienced nursing home abuse lawyers can help victims and their families recover the compensation that they need for pain and suffering, medical bills, medical equipment, and other damages associated with nursing home injuries or wrongful death. Unlike other personal injury law firms, their nursing home abuse lawyers in Springfield are fifth-generation lawyers who handle their cases locally – instead of farming them out to new associates at law firms across the state. To learn more about how the nursing home abuse lawyers at the Noll Law Office can help you and your family after a nursing home fall due to a lack of safety devices or precautions, call them today to schedule your free consultation by dialing (217) 414-8889.
Fall Risks and Evaluations
Nursing homes, long-term care facilities, rehabilitation centers, and other types of facilities, including other healthcare facilities like hospitals or physician offices, have a duty to assess residents and patients for their fall risk. An assessment must occur on intake, and also needs to occur after certain events such as a fall or every few days or weeks per a doctor or nurse’s judgment.
A fall assessment is a graded score that is dependent on certain factors. These factors include everything from information related to the resident, such as whether he or she has fallen before, to other factors learned during a physical examination. In addition, the reasons why a resident is in a facility is also important, because factors such as having lower body or back surgery, being an elopement risk, or having dementia, all increase the risk of falls and should be considered when assessing a resident’s fall risk.
The failure to perform a fall risk assessment on a resident or patient can be negligence. Whereas an improper or inadequate fall risk assessment is also negligence, but often considered to be within the realm of medical malpractice and, therefore, triggering slightly different rules.
Fall Risk Safety Devices and Precautions
Once a resident is determined to be a fall risk, nursing homes and related facilities have some options how to handle the situation. This is often based on a physician’s orders, however, nursing staff are allowed to exercise their independent nursing judgment. Generally, the safety devices and precautions used are supposed to be the least restrictive ones to keep a resident safe. However, sometimes staff are hesitant and just use the least restrictive options to avoid unlawfully restraining a resident, but those are insufficient to keep a resident safe. Other times staff use the least restrictive options because of supplies, inadequate staffing, inadequate training, or just careless or reckless conduct.
Some of the most common safety devices that should be used with a resident who is a fall risk in Illinois include the following (in the general order of least restrictive means to the most restrictive means):
- Special socks that have excessive grips for traction
- Using a bright color bracket so other staff will know that, if they see that resident walking around, that the resident is a fall risk and should be assisted whenever possible
- Lowering the resident’s bed
- Place fall mats and foam mats to the sides of a bed or in a bathroom
- Using foam guards around corners, sinks, or other parts of a room
- Moving furniture away from the bed
- Using a door alarm to know when the resident’s bathroom door or bedroom door opens
- Using a bed alarm, when a resident shifts too far to one side of the bed (as in the resident is preparing to stand up), an alarm will sound in the nurse’s station or to the assigned nurse’s phone/monitor
- Using a GPS tracker in a bracelet
- Offering a walking cane, crutches, walker, or wheelchair to help with ambulation
- Using 15-minute bed checks
- Using a camera in the room to monitor a resident (often requiring the consent of the resident or, if not possible, a family, healthcare proxy, or another individual responsible for the resident)
- Using half-length bed rails
- Using full-length bed rails
- 1:1 supervision
- Locking a resident’s door to prevent eloping (as long as the door automatically unlocks in the event of an emergency)
- Using full restraints when a resident’s life or limb is in danger, the resident is actively refusing to sit down, and a physician believes such restraints are necessary (consent from the family, healthcare proxy, or another individual responsible for the resident is often best practice), and
- Other practices may be used to help prevent a resident’s fall in a nursing home or another facility in Illinois.
Victims of Nursing Home Falls in Springfield Should Call the Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in Springfield at the Noll Law Office: Learn More About What Safety Devices Might Save a Loved One But Weren’t Used from Their Legal Team
Nursing home falls can be prevented in nearly all instances with the proper care, treatment, and supervision of a facility. However, many nursing homes struggle with adequate staffing, resources, training, and devices that may keep residents safe. This is true even though the costs of a nursing home facility continue to skyrocket, but facilities still won’t issue grip socks or use mats – all that costs very little as compared to a monthly payment.
When a resident falls due to these inadequate protections or the outright negligence of a nursing home in Illinois, victims and their families should call the experienced nursing home abuse lawyers in Springfield at the Noll Law Office. They provide FREE consultations and case evaluations, and can answer your questions and explain what your legal rights to compensation may be under Illinois law. To learn more, contact them today to schedule your free case evaluation.