According to a report filed by the Illinois Department of Health,two residents evaluated for nursing home falls suffered while living at the River Bluff nursing home in Rockford, Illinois have stories that are inconsistent with the River Bluff incident reports.
The first nursing home fall took place in February of this year. The report filed says that a River Bluff nursing home resident was found complaining of pain to her foot even though she had allegedly been put to bed without any incident. When the certified nurses assistant (CNA) examined her foot the next morning, he said that it “popped” three times and the resident experienced extreme pain. The resident said that she didn’t remember exactly what happened but that she fell and a River Bluff staff member fell on top of her.
The Rockford, Illinois hospital where she was taken following the incident found that she had a fractured right ankle. The family asked the orthopedic surgeon if he had any idea how this injury could have occurred, and he replied, “I guess CSI will have to solve that one.”
The second incident also occurred in February. This time, a River Bluff resident who regularly uses a gait belt somehow slipped out of the belt and fell to the floor. According to the CNA assisting the resident at the time, “He seemed a little irritated when I put him in the stand. His leg started to tremble. He started to wiggle then he put his arms up and he slipped through the belt.”
Again, the resident has a different story. As an amputee, he has never feared using the belt or felt that it was unnecessary. He admitted that he had fallen before while using the belt, but only because shower soap made him very slippery. At the time of the recent fall, there was no soap involved.
Nursing homes need to properly train their staff in the proper use of nursing home equipment. If you have a loved one who has been injured after multiple falls in an Illinois nursing home, and you feel neglect may have been the cause of the injury, contact my law offices for a free and confidential evaluation of your case.
Other blog posts of interest:
Unsupervised resident falls from wheelchair, breaks hip
Assault by resident yield fractured hip at Stephenson Nursing Center
Meadowood resident fractures both hips in falls
Manorcare of Oak Lawn staff rolls resident out of bed causing brain bleed