The Illinois Department of Public Health deficiency report on the Champaign County Nursing Home in Urbana, Illinois is lengthy – 20 pages long. The report is filled with documented cases of nursing home falls, proposed interventions, care plan updates, and suggested causes.
As a nursing home falls lawyer, I’ve spent a lot of time investigating many different types of falls in nursing homes. Often, one resident may suffer numerous nursing home falls in a short amount of time. In other instances, many more residents may have experienced one or two falls over a greater length of time.
What set this report apart from the more common nursing home fall reports is that so many nursing home residents all experienced numerous nursing home falls over a short period of time.
In almost any facility with nursing home falls, understaffing is a problem, and Champaign County Nursing Home is no different. During one tour of the Alzheimer’s Unit, only three Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) and one Nurse were on duty for both the day and evening shifts. There were 23 residents in the Alzheimer’s unit. That goes beyond understaffing.
Proper staffing levels are essential for an Alzheimer’s unit because the nature of the disease often results in nursing home residents who have a much greater physical ability than typical nursing home residents. This is why any Alzheimer’s unit is legally obligated to provide daily activities that match the resident’s interests and mental level. Without that stimulation, residents wander, grab others, and attempt to leave their beds at night. This behavior often results in nursing home falls.
The Champaign County Nursing home had no activities for their charges. While this might not sound like the typical kind of nursing home neglect that I often write about on this blog, it’s no less dangerous. The simple fact is that the nursing home administration created an environment where residents are likely to be injured. That’s the very definition of nursing home neglect.
If you have a loved one who has experienced nursing home falls in an Illinois nursing home, and you believe they have been the victims of nursing home neglect, contact my law offices for a free and confidential evaluation of your case.
Other blog posts on nursing home falls: