IDPH has cited and fined Radford Green nursing home in Lincolnshire after a resident there sustained multiple fractures to her lower leg after an aide attempted transfer using a sit-to-stand lift.
A sit-to-stand lift is a type of lift commonly used in nursing homes. A sit-to-stand lift should be used only with residents who have some ability to bear weight with their light sand who are cognitively intact enough to follow instructions from the staff. As with Hoyer lifts, this requires the assistance of two staff members to use it safely – one to operate the controls of the lift, the other to assure the safety of the resident.
The resident at issue had been recently admitted to the nursing home for rehabilitation and strengthening. All of the assessments done on the resident to that point had indicated that she was an assist of two for all transfers, but additionally facility, policies called for two staff in using a sit-to-stand lift.
This nursing home fall is like many we have described in many other posts in that there was one person doing a two-person job (see here, here, here, here, and here for examples). Here, an aide has asked for help from a nurse in transferring the resident, but when the nurse did not arrive quickly enough, the aide attempted the transfer by herself. During the transfer, the resident’s legs gave out and she ended up suffering a fractured tibia and fibula (both bones of the lower leg).
The obvious immediate cause of this fall was one person doing a two person job. The deeper question is one of why was the aide not properly trained to know that attempting this transfer by herself an “absolutely not” kind of proposition and why was there not enough help to get this work done? The likely answer to this question relates to the understaffing of the nursing home which is a feature of the nursing home business model.
One of our core beliefs is that nursing homes are built to fail due to the business model they follow and that unnecessary accidental injuries and wrongful deaths of nursing home residents are the inevitable result. Order our FREE report, Built to Fail, to learn more about why. Our experienced Chicago nursing home lawyers are ready to help you understand what happened, why, and what your rights are. Contact us to get the help you need.
Other blog posts of interest:
Grosse Pointe Manor resident breaks leg during improper transfer
Resident suffers facial burns in smoking accident at Elevate Care of Waukegan
Fall from mechanical lift at Hillcrest Retirement Village
Multiple fractures from fall at Lutheran Home for the Aged
Resident suffers from broken hip in unsafe transfer at Pearl of Rolling Meadows
Click here to file a complaint about a nursing home with the Illinois Department of Public Health.
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