Nursing Homes Slip and Fall Accidents

Nursing Homes Slip and Fall Accidents

Nursing homes are specific type of medical establishment in sole purpose for residential and semi-permanent provision of care for elderly or disabled people or both. Said nursing homes are second choices of relatives or individuals in which they let take full responsibility and take care of their elder family member next to relying on other relative to take care for their elder relative, on most cases.

Most elders’ motor skills and coordination are impared and are damaged because of their at an extent, having tendency to be outbalanced and fall, their tolerance to lower body’s sudden impact and force is lowered as well that they might stumble even with little things they’d stepped on. Their regular actions such as standing, sitting, or walking may seemed to be challenging enough for them and may pose a risk for slipping or falling. 

Number of Elders’ Fall and Slips

In a recent study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they said that in any settings, elders have high tendecies of falling and other related dangers. These risks doubles up when they are situated in a nursing home where there are multiple factors for dangers are present such as uneven surface, populated areas designated for walking, and slippery surfaces, etc. 

  • According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1800 elderlies die from serious fall cases or fall related injuries annually, some suffer from permanent damages and disabilities. 
  • Muscle and bone issues or weakness and related musculoskeletal problems is a major factor of fall among patients in a nursing home as it contributes 24% of total falls at nursing homes. While hazards naturally present in nursing home or environmental hazards accounts to the 16% to 27% among patients.
  • Sedatives and other medications and drugs that can affect coordination and motor skills may increase the risk of falling and slips for the patients.
  • Lack of assistance or staff to move a person or other matter of maintenance of patient’s health that requires two or more person can cause fall in an obvious manner.

It is true that not all medical facilities including nursing homes may sometimes commit blunder or large mistakes that could certainly change the flow of one’s condition. Even if nurses in nusing homes are skilled and well-informed, negligence and multiple failures at performing their part as a medical establishment may pose harm and even death to a patient being took care of. Here are some common and known dangers exist inside every nursing homes that can cause slip and falls:

  • Patients and elderly lack attention from their nurses
  • Misdiagnosis and lack of provision of a proper professional
  • Unnecessary activities that could affect their health and delayed updates of their health if they are apt for those activities
  • Lack of numbers in terms of nurses and hiring of unqualified personnel 
  • Lack of safety fixtures and engineering such as handlebars and measurements of table and chair
  • Environmental hazards such as bad lighting, wet floors, uneven flooring, overlaying wires and materials and etc.

Call an Injury Lawyer 

If ever one of your elder relatives or closest love ones that you have left in a nursing homes near you have sustained an injury, you are entitled to file for an injury claim or medical malpractice to the nursing home if you believe and its ascertain that the injury was caused by one of the nurses or the management’s itself negligence.

Ryan Injury Lawyers is an Ohio based injury law firm that represents their victims of wrongful death, medical malpractice and even personal injury for more than 40 years and the experience that they have accumulated in the period is huge and proves that they are one of the best in Ohio as they have high success rate in their total cases handled. Call our offices now for free legal consultation.