As Cleveland nursing home attorneys, we receive calls on a regular basis from individuals whose loved one was admitted to a nursing home and suffered injury.
One of the most common causes of injury are falls. Falls can be extremely harmful for elderly nursing home residents. Falls can lead to fractures which can lead to lack of mobility which can lead to bed sores.
Falls can lead to fractures which can lead to lack of mobility which can lead to pneumonia. A resident can fall and suffer a head injury that can be fatal. An alarming number of elderly people who suffer a fall that results in a fracture die within a year of that fall.
As a result, it is imperative for Cleveland nursing homes to prevent falls.
At The Dickson Firm, when a resident of a Cleveland nursing home or any nursing home in the State of Ohio, has suffered a preventable fall which has resulted in injury, we work hard to hold the owners and the operators of that nursing accountable for the harm they have caused.
How do nursing homes prevent falls?
Nursing homes like to say that not all falls are preventable. This is technically true. However, a very large number of falls in nursing homes are absolutely preventable. Nursing homes also like to say that they don't provide one-on-one care. The reality is that nursing homes provide one-on-one care all day long. They simply don't promise to provide one-on-one care 24 hours a day 7 days a week. There are definitely times when nursing home residents are unattended in a nursing home. Nursing homes are not set up so that a resident has someone with them at all times.
There is a body of law known as the Ohio Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights. That Bill of Rights guarantees that all nursing homes in Ohio, including Cleveland nursing homes, provide their residents with a safe environment. This area of elder law helps protect older adults from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
There is also a body of law known as the Code of Federal Regulations. There are federal laws that apply to all nursing homes in the United States, including nursing homes in Cleveland. There is a section of the Code of Federal Regulations that requires nursing homes to provide their residents with adequate supervision to prevent accidents.
Adequate supervision is essential to reducing the risks of falls
If you are admitting someone you love to a nursing home or you already have someone you love who is a resident of a nursing home, and that person is not able to walk safely on their own unattended, then you need to know the plan of care that that nursing home has developed for your loved one to prevent them from falling. How have they planned to provide your loved one with adequate supervision?
Many nursing homes use alarms. There are alarms that are connected to a pressure pad that goes under a person when they are sitting in a chair or laying in a bed. If that person begins to get up it takes pressure off the pad, it sounds the alarm and the staff is alerted that the person is starting to get up. Other alarms use a string. One end is clipped to the resident’s clothing. The other end is attached to a magnet on the base of the alarm. If the resident starts to get up and they pull the magnet off of the base the alarm sounds.
Nursing homes need to have adequate staff to prevent falls. Nursing homes are legally obligated to have a sufficient number of properly training staff to give their residents the care that they need. This is particularly important in preventing falls in a nursing home. If there are not enough staff, then there are not enough people to respond to the fall alarms.
If you are visiting a nursing home, and you're constantly hearing fall alarms going off and nobody is responding that's a very dangerous sign. If someone you love is in a nursing home and they're at risk for falls, sit in their room with them and push the call button and see how long it takes the staff to respond.
Asking if the nursing home uses alarms if helpful
One of the biggest questions to ask is, does your nursing home use alarms? Many nursing homes don't use alarms. We here at The Dickson firm, as nursing home attorneys, believe that the main reason nursing homes don't use alarms is because it helps us prove that the nursing home was at fault when a fall occurs. There does not appear to be any good reason with respect to resident care not to use an alarm.
Yet, alarms do not prevent falls
I am very skeptical that any nursing home can provide their residents with adequate supervision without alarms. This is particularly true at night. Imagine a nursing home with 30 or 40 residents on a single wing of the nursing home and you have one nurse and three aids taking care of those residents. The one nurse is in with one resident administering medication. And the three aides are likewise providing care to residents whether turning and repositioning them or taking them to the bathroom, etc. Even if each employee is with one of the 30 residents, it still leaves 26 residents unattended. If a fall alarm goes off and nobody can respond, then that fall will not be prevented. Alarms do not prevent a fall. It's up to the staff to respond to the alarm and prevent falls.
If someone you love is in a nursing home or you're thinking about admitting them to a nursing home that doesn't use alarms, then you need to ask the staff at that nursing home how they prevent falls. How do they know if a resident is up walking around their room unattended and ate risk for falling if they don't use alarms?
Contact a Cleveland nursing home lawyer with questions about fall injuries
Here at The Dickson Firm, we've been devoted to the rights of nursing home residents and their families for over twenty five (25) years. We work very hard to hold nursing homes accountable when they provide a resident with substandard care that causes injury, particularly in cases involving falls. As indicated above, falls can be extremely harmful to nursing home residents. They can even be fatal. If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at The Dickson Firm at 1 (800) OHIO LAW. We would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.
The Dickson Firm believes it is crucial to share news about nursing home injuries and deaths to raise awareness about the ongoing issues of neglect and abuse that occur in Ohio. The people who suffer injuries could be your spouse, your parent, your brother or sister. By reporting these incidents, we help families recognize potential risks, empower them with knowledge, and push for greater accountability in the industry. Ultimately, our goal is to advocate for safer conditions and ensure that vulnerable residents receive the care and dignity they deserve.
If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at 1-800-OHIO LAW as it would be our pleasure to talk with you and help you in any way that we can. We represent victims and their families across Ohio. Contact nursing home and elder law attorney Blake Dickson today for a free and confidential case review.