Practice Areas Nursing Home Negligence Nursing Home Falls

About Nursing Home Falls

There are several types of nursing home-like facilities, but the rules for elderly care facilities are all similar to the rules for nursing homes. According to the Nursing Home Abuse Center (NHAC), citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “between 50-75% of nursing home residents fall each year. This is twice the rate at which other older adults fall when living outside of nursing homes.” The sheer amount of nursing home falls dwarfs other types of nursing home injuries.

Further, according to the HNAC, about 1,800 people living in nursing homes die from falls each year, and:

• Residents often fall more than once, averaging about 2.6 falls per person per year.
• About 35% of nursing home fall injuries occur in patients who cannot walk.
• 10-20% of nursing home falls result in serious injury.
• Only 5% of adults over the age of 65 live in nursing homes,  but nursing home residents in this age group account for 20% of all deaths from falls.

Get in touch with a Boca Raton nursing home fall attorney at The Grife Law Firm for more information.

Are Nursing Homes Responsible for Nursing Home Falls?

In a word, yes. Nursing homes have a legal duty to prevent falls. Responsible nursing homes have developed fall prevention plans to prevent falls. When a nursing home fails to implement fall prevention plans, and a patient is hurt from a fall, they have breached their legal duty and can be sued for negligence.

When a patient falls and is consequently injured, the nursing home may try to downplay the incident, claiming that falls are simply a result of old age. Nonetheless, the law, in the form of state and federal regulations, disagrees. Patient falls are not the norm, nor are they a normal part of life in a nursing home. Nursing homes have a legal responsibility to develop and implement fall prevention plans, especially for patients who are at risk. To do otherwise is negligence.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a fall at their nursing home, contact a Boca Raton nursing home fall lawyer at The Grife Law Firm before the visible signs of injuries begin to fade, or at the very least take pictures of the injuries from all angles and distances. This will become crucial evidence.

Factors Contributing to Falls in Nursing Homes

Everyone falls from time to time, but the elderly are particularly vulnerable to circumstances that make it more likely for an accident to happen. Some of the most common reasons for falls that happen in nursing homes, but also just in general, include: 

• Failing vision that makes it hard to see bumps and obstacles
• Side effects of medication like dizziness or lightheadedness
• A decline in physical activity that makes walking and standing more difficult
• Recovery from surgical procedures to the limbs (most commonly hip replacements)
• Fear of falling again after a recent slip, trip, or fall
• The onset of chronic diseases like Parkinson’s or arthritis
• Environmental factors like puddles, loose railings, or bumpy carpets

Some of these factors may help make your nursing home slip and fall lawsuit. We encourage you to get in touch with our Boca Raton nursing home law firm to learn more about how we can help you.