What Happens When Someone Falls in a Nursing Home?

Nursing home falls are serious events that necessitate immediate attention and careful follow-up, both to help ensure residents’ safety and prevent future incidents. Falls are among the most common and most dangerous accidents in long-term care settings. These incidents often create serious injuries, long-term hospitalizations, and severe emotional distress. Understanding what happens after a fall helps families and caregivers appreciate the steps taken to protect both fall victims and residents in general.

Usually, an Oceanside personal injury lawyer must get involved when someone falls in a nursing home. As outlined below, these facilities usually have protocols in place. Additionally, the industry’s standard of care comes into play. In a perfect world, long-term care facilities would voluntarily initiate these protocols and compensate victims. But we don’t live in a perfect world. So, an Oceanside personal injury lawyer must at least jumpstart the process.

Initial Care and Assessment

Nursing home staff are trained to respond quickly when a resident falls. They first check for immediate signs of injury, such as bleeding, pain, swelling, or changes in consciousness. If the resident is still on the ground, according to the standard of care, staff shouldn’t immediately move them unless the environment poses a danger. A fall outside in bad weather is a good example.

Instead, they assess their vital signs and observe them. If the assessment and observation warrants it, they immediately call emergency medical services. Even if the injuries seem minor, the nurse or physician on duty will typically perform a thorough evaluation.

The problem is that some fall-related injuries, such as internal injuries, are almost impossible to spot, especially for non-emergency medicine professionals. Additionally, many nursing homes like to keep falls and other injuries as quiet as possible, meaning that victims may not get the treatment they need when they need it.

Next, the incident is documented and reported. Nursing homes are required by law to record all falls, including details such as the time, location, witnesses, and any contributing factors. This report, which describes the circumstances of the fall, is often a critical piece of evidence for an Oceanside personal injury lawyer. Perhaps just as importantly, this documentation helps identify patterns, such as frequent falls during bathroom trips or at night, that reveal underlying issues.

Follow-Up

After the initial response, California law requires the nursing home to conduct a post-fall analysis to determine why the fall occurred. Common causes include:

• Environmental hazards (e.g. slippery floors or poor lighting),
• Medication side effects,
• Muscle weakness,
• Balance problems, or
• Cognitive decline.

The healthcare team reviews the resident’s medical history and care plan to identify risk factors. Based on this analysis, they update the care plan to reduce the risk of another fall. These updates might involve adjusting medications, adding assistive devices such as walkers, installing bed alarms, or increasing supervision.

Equally important is the emotional and psychological impact of a fall. Many nursing home fall victims are fearful or anxious. These emotions often lead to reduced mobility because they’re afraid to walk or move independently, which ironically increases the risk of future falls due to muscle weakness. Therefore, staff members often work with residents to rebuild their confidence through reassurance, gentle physical therapy, and mobility training.

Post-fall assessment helps an Oceanside personal injury lawyer determine a fair amount of financial compensation. Compensation claims usually settle out of court.

Count on a Hard-Working San Diego County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Oceanside, contact the Pursley Law Firm. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.

Source:

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9382393/