If your loved one fell at their nursing home—and whether they are injured or not—you may want to investigate further. A fall in a nursing home could be a sign of:
- Direct abuse of your loved one
- Neglect of your loved one
- A living environment that is dangerous to your loved one
Your loved one’s health is likely very important to you, and you do not have to ensure their safety on your own. Call our team at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm today to learn more about how a Phoenix falls lawyer could help you protect your loved one.
When Falls Are Not Simply an Accident
There are times when an elderly person’s fall was virtually unavoidable, being an accident in its purest form. Then there are times when falls and fall injuries among older adults are the result of something other than an accident, be it negligence or intentional mistreatment.
If you believe it is possible that your loved one’s fall was the victim of something other than an accident, you may want to consider what those other potential causes of their fall may be. Some possibilities include:
- Acute abuse of your loved one, such as tripping them or throwing them to the ground
- Negligence, which could include your loved one not being properly assisted in their movements in a nursing home, possibly increasing their risk of falling
- General lack of safety in a nursing home, which could include various tripping hazards that would not exist in a safer, more well-attended environment
These are three potential causes of your loved one’s fall which may warrant your investigation. If you find that any one of these threats to your loved one’s health exist in their nursing home, they could be symptoms of greater misconduct in your loved one’s residence.
Nursing Homes Have a Responsibility to Prevent Falls
It is not a secret that the elderly can face significant health consequences as the result of a fall. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), millions of elderly people suffer a fall each year, a total that comprises more than one in four people aged 65 and older. Any nursing home staffer or administrator should be aware of the threat of their residents falling and take actions to prevent older adult falls.
The CDC details several steps that caregivers and administrators at nursing homes should take to decrease the risk of falls among nursing home residents. Some of these preventative measures include:
- Clearing walkways of tripping hazards, which could include clutter, loose wiring, and loose flooring material.
- If rugs are necessary within the nursing home, use tape to ensure that they do not slide and present a tripping or slipping hazard.
- Install safety equipment throughout hallways, stairwells, and bathrooms, including but not limited to handrails.
- Ensure that all parts of the nursing home are adequately lit.
In addition to these CDC guidelines, some additional responsibilities of caregivers in nursing homes may include:
- Understanding when patients are at a high-risk of tripping, and assisting them closely when they are in motion.
- Understanding how, specifically, to see that a person may be about to fall and prevent, or at least attempt to prevent, their fall.
Those in charge of implementing training programs for staffers in nursing homes generally also have a responsibility to:
- Make sure staffers understand the risks of residents falling
- Teach staffers how to best minimize the risk of residents falling
- Hold staffers accountable for adhering to these best practices
The Potential Consequences of Falls
There are many unknown but important facts about falls that should be known. All falls are not the same, and when an elderly person suffers a fall the results can be catastrophic. Among these consequences are death, according to the CDC. Some of the specific injuries that could result from a fall (and could ultimately prove fatal) include:
- Broken hip
- Broken bones in the arm
- Broken tailbone
- Traumatic brain injury, which could lead to bleeding in the brain
There are several other injuries that could plausibly result from a fall. Any injury could be a significant risk to your loved one’s health if they are elderly, and you likely want to get to the bottom of what caused your loved one’s injury as soon as possible.
If you would like assistance in this investigation, you can call our team at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm today for a free consultation from a Phoenix falls lawyer. We may be able to answer questions you have about your options for moving forward with the concerns you have about your loved one’s safety.
Investigating Your Loved One’s Accident
If you want to know more about the cause of your loved one’s fall, you can ask them how it happened. You could also press them empathetically on whether they feel safe and cared for in the nursing home that they live.
If you suspect that your loved one’s fall was due to negligence or malicious intent, then you may want to:
- Call law enforcement
- Notify the administrators at the nursing home of your suspicions
- Make arrangements for your loved one to move to a safe location
- Speak with a lawyer
Taking these steps may allow you to:
- Protect your loved one from further harm if their nursing home is a dangerous place
- Help you pursue the facts of any mistreatment that possibly occurred, with assistance from law enforcement and possibly a lawyer
- Help you begin to pursue justice if your loved one suffered mistreatment in one or more ways
A lawyer can initiate any legal action that you ultimately choose to bring. If you want to pursue compensation for your loved one’s losses, bringing a lawsuit may be a clear way to do that.
For a free legal consultation with a Slip and Fall Accidents Lawyer serving Phoenix, call (800) 794-0444
Call Our Team at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm Today
Our goal will be to protect your loved one from any further harm. Call our team at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm today for a free consultation from a Phoenix falls lawyer. We work on a contingency-fee-basis, so you pay nothing out of pocket, and we do not shy away from tough legal cases.
Call or text (800) 794-0444 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
