A nursing home fall that occurred at the Frankfort Healthcare and Rehab Center in West Frankfort, Illinois resulted in a fractured femur. The fall was easily preventable, and would never have happened if the staff at the facility followed the assessment made by their own nurses and administrators.
The quarterly review asserted that the resident required extensive assistance and also noted that staff use weight bearing support. It called for the assistance of two staff members and a mechanical lift when transferring the resident from the bed to the wheelchair or vice versa.
There’s no distinction in the medical terminology between a nursing home fall and a nursing home drop, although there should be. When we speak of nursing home falls, the image that comes to mind is of an elderly resident who collapses due to unforeseen circumstances.
The incident at Frankfort Healthcare and Rehab Center would be much more accurately described as a nursing home drop, and it happens all too frequently. Rather than using two staff members and a mechanical lift, a single certified nurses assistant (CNA) was attempting to transfer the resident from his wheelchair to his bed.
What happened at that point is unclear. The Frankfort Healthcare Rehab Center CNA claims that he gently lowered the resident to the floor and called for assistance. A licensed practical nurse (LPN) came to aid in completing the transfer. The LPN claims that an assessment was done of the resident at that time and found no injuries.
The following day, however, staff found the resident in considerable pain. An X-ray revealed a fracture of the femur. The finding makes the likelihood that the resident was dropped from a significant height much greater.
As a nursing home fall lawyer, I am often asked by family members why the staff would attempt these dangerous transfers by themselves.
The answer, sadly, is that many nursing homes make money by providing the minimum of care for the maximum profit. Frankfort Healthcare and Rehab Center only has 42 residents as of their last Medicare inspection. Yet they have more deficiencies (10) than a nursing home twice their size.
In addition, their staffing levels are rated “much below average.” An average Illinois nursing home resident gets over an hour and a half more daily staff and caregiver time than a resident at Frankfort Healthcare and Rehab Center.
If you have a loved one who has experienced multiple nursing home falls at an Illinois nursing home, and you feel they have been the victims of nursing home neglect, contact our Orland Park nursing home lawyers for a free and confidential evaluation of your case.
Other blog posts of interest:
Multiple fractures at Rolling Hills Manor in Zion
Improper use of lift at Brentwood North