Victims and families can hold nursing facilities accountable for injuries
One of the most common causes of injuries or death in nursing homes is falling.
About half of the 1.6 million residents in nursing facilities fall each year, according to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Of those who fall, about 1 out of 3 will experience multiple falls that year.
Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are required to provide safe environments and quality care to their residents, but the facilities frequently fail to do so. Up to 27 percent of nursing home falls are preventable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nursing home safety and fall hazards
COVID-19 temporarily altered the rules a bit, but nursing homes are still liable for their negligence. This includes failure to prevent falls.
By law, nursing homes in Alabama must provide care that maintains or enhances a resident's quality of life. They must also accommodate residents' needs - which include fall prevention through design, equipment, assistance, education, and other means.
At a nursing home, falls are often caused by things like:
- Loose carpets
- Slick floors
- Inadequate supervision and/or assistance by nursing home staff
- Cluttered walkways
- Uneven surfaces
- Unstable furniture
- Poor lighting
- Certain medications
- Lack of fall-prevention planning and training
- Defective equipment like wheelchairs and walkers
Signs of a fall
Sometimes victims don't report abuse for fear of retaliation. Those with memory or communication problems are often targeted. As such, you may need to look for signs of a fall instead of hearing what happened directly from the injured person.
Signs your loved one fell and was injured at a nursing home include:
- Bruises and contusions
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), such as a concussion or nerve damage
- Hip fractures or other bone fractures, typically to the humerus, spine, ribs, or wrist
- New or heightened fear of falling
- Stroke, possibly related to a TBI
- Infections, as recovering from a fall injury often lowers immunity to infections and illness
An attorney knows how to prove nursing home negligence
At Shuttlesworth Law Firm LLC, we have the knowledge, experience, and resources to aggressively advocate for the justice and financial compensation your family deserves. We know how to investigate nursing homes, where to find evidence, and how to build strong nursing home negligence cases that get results.
Since our founding in 1998, we've earned a reputation for holding nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Alabama accountable for their negligence. We've recovered over $100 million for our clients and take pride in providing exceptional legal representation to nursing home abuse victims and their loved ones.
If you would like to find out how we can help you, schedule a free and confidential case evaluation with our law firm. There are no obligations, just honest answers about your legal rights and options. Contact us today.
