A resident was diagnosed with a fractured hip after she fell in her bathroom in the Lutheran Care Center in Altamont, Illinois. This was far from her first fall, and far from her first injury. She was admitted to the facility after she fractured her hip in a fall from home.
Whenever a resident is first admitted to any nursing home, he or she is given an initial assessment to determine the residents risk of nursing home falls, bed sores, and other typical nursing home conditions.
When this resident was assessed, she was given a score of 18 on the Fall Risk Assessment scale. Since anything over a 10 indicates a high risk, clearly the woman was at an extremely high risk of nursing home falls.
Anyone who scores that highly on a nursing home falls assessment should never be left unattended in a situation where they can fall. According to the report by the Illinois Department of Public Health, the resident was found after a nursing home fall in her Lutheran Care Center bathroom.
A fractured hip can easily turn into a potentially fatal injury for a nursing home resident. Fractures of the hip can keep a resident bedridden for weeks. During that period, he or she is extremely vulnerable to infection, bed sores, and illnesses like pneumonia. Any one of those conditions can easily prove fatal to a nursing home resident.
One of our core beliefs is that nursing homes are built to fail due to the business model they follow and that unnecessary injuries from falls, illnesses, and wrongful deaths of 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 on nursing home falls:
Spree of falls at Brentwood North
Resident at Renaissance at 87th falls from bed, breaks neck
Improper transfer at Benton Rehab results in knee fracture
Click here to file a complaint about a nursing home with the Illinois Department of Public Health.