There is a strong association between advanced age and increased fall risk. Older adults are more likely than younger people to lose their balance and fall. When they fall, they are also at elevated risk of serious injuries including broken bones.
For many families, a loved one falling while at home alone might be the reason they end up living in a nursing home. They may have sustained significant injuries that could make future independent living much more difficult. Their families want them to have support on hand whenever they need it. Unfortunately, older adults living in nursing homes are still at risk of falling. In some cases, falls are an indicator of neglect and inappropriate care standards at a nursing home.
Facilities should identify high-risk residents
Assessing older adults for fall risk is a standard procedure at most nursing home facilities. By regularly evaluating the likelihood that someone could fall and get hurt, the facility can prioritize providing appropriate support to the adults with the highest degree of need.
When care facilities fail to assess someone for fall risk during their initial intake process or do not reevaluate them as their health changes, that can constitute negligence because it is a deviation from best practices.
Facilities need adequate staff on hand
Another reason that falls are so common at nursing homes is that adults living there may not be able to wait for workers to help them get dressed or go to the bathroom. When there aren’t enough workers available to meet the basic needs of residents, those residents may try to handle tasks on their own that they cannot accomplish safely.
In some cases, workers at nursing homes may have grudges towards specific residents because of their conduct or personalities. They may intentionally make those adults wait for longer than others when they request support or call for assistance. Those older adults may then become frustrated and could end up falling and sustaining major injuries because workers chose not to provide them with necessary support.
The unfortunate reality is that many nursing home falls are preventable. Older adults may suffer costly injuries and lasting reductions in their quality of life because workers at a nursing home could not or would not provide them with the care they required.
Filing a lawsuit in response to a preventable nursing home fall can sometimes be an appropriate reaction. Families may need to look into the current care standards at a facility to see if a particular situation warrants litigation.
