Although elderly nursing home patients may fall due to a variety of reasons, including lack of mobility, dizziness, or vertigo, nursing homes may be liable for falls and have a duty to protect residents.

Are Nursing Homes Liable for Falls?

While other home or building owners are liable for falls due to wet floors, icy sidewalks, and broken steps, nursing homes have additional responsibilities to their patients. As many elderly patients in nursing homes have health conditions such as vertigo, dizziness, or lack of mobility, they may be more likely to lose their balance and fall. Due to these risks, nursing homes must take additional steps to prevent accidents.

What Kinds of Falls Are Nursing Homes Liable For?

Nursing homes may be liable for falls caused by a failure to monitor patients, failure to use protective devices to decrease the risk of falls, malfunction of bed rails, malfunction of walking aids, improper staff training, medication errors, wet or dangerous floors or stairs, or improper positioning of residents on chairs or beds.

In order to prevent residents from experiencing falls, most nursing homes have protocols in place to mitigate the risk of accidents.

However, if your loved one lives in a nursing home that does not follow these protocols and has been injured due to the negligence of nursing home employees, you may be eligible to hire an experienced attorney and file a lawsuit against the medical center. In addition to nursing home liability for falls, nursing homes have a responsibility to protect residents from other forms of neglect and abuse.

What Other Forms May Nursing Home Neglect Take?

As nursing homes are skilled medical facilities that provide medical care to residents, they may be liable for medical mistakes, accidents, and incidents of abuse. Approximately 5 million Americans over the age of 60 are neglected and abused every year. Unfortunately, the majority of these cases are never reported to the authorities.

Nursing home neglect or abuse may take many forms, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, financial abuse, or abandonment. Common types of nursing home neglect include failure to prevent slip and fall accidents, failure to provide adequate medical or dental care, failure to provide food or water, failure to answer call lights or calls for help from residents, failure to adequately clean the facility or provide proper hygiene care to residents.

Symptoms of nursing home neglect may include bedsores, unexplained injuries or bruises, malnutrition or dehydration, chronic infections, frequent urinary tract infections, poor personal hygiene, weight loss, or tense relationships between the nursing home resident and staff members.

If your loved one has been injured or fallen at a nursing home, you may be able to hire a qualified attorney and file a class action lawsuit against the medical facility. Victims and their families may be able to collect compensation for injuries or neglect, as well as financial reimbursement for medical bills.