Egregious nursing home neglect created an unbelievably tragic situation for one resident of St. Joseph Village of Chicago. The nursing home failed to uphold its obligations to develop and initiate adequate fall prevention measures. As a result, one of their residents suffered tremendously for days.
The victim is an amputee with diagnoses of dementia and depression, and she has a history of injuries caused from falls. In June of 2011, she fell in the dining room of the facility. No one was present to witness the fall, and the woman was diagnosed at a Chicago hospital as having a hip fracture.
At the time of this fall, there were a number of nursing home fall interventions in place to prevent such an event from occurring. A wheelchair alarm, a lowered nursing home bed, and non-slick footwear were some of the interventions in place.
In March of this year, the resident was found on the floor of her room. According to the nursing home assessment conducted that day, no injuries were sustained. It took three days, however, for the true extent of the injuries became known. Further examination revealed a dislocated femur and a bone fracture.
After the resident’s first nursing home fall, the facility should have put additional interventions into place to prevent additional falls. It wasn’t until after the second fall that side rails and a floor safety mat were added to the list of safety precautions.
An inspection this year revealed that St. Joseph’s Village was failing to follow their own recommendations. During an inspection the rails were missing from the resident’s bed, and there was no safety mat on the floor.
Nursing home falls happen quickly. That’s the nature of all falls whether they happen in a nursing home or not. By not implementing interventions on a consistent basis, they are committing nursing home neglect, and they are creating an environment where severe injuries are a matter of time, not a matter of chance.
If you have a loved one who has been injured in a nursing home fall, and you feel that nursing home neglect played a role, contact our Chicago nursing home lawyers for a free and confidential evaluation of your case. At my law offices, we have the experience and knowledge to handle all aspects of your nursing home fall case.
Other blog posts on nursing home falls:
Fall from edge of bed at Integrity of Alton
Fatal fall at Caseyville Care Center
Colonial Manor resident suffers hip fracture when aide release gait belt
Multiple falls at Provena Cor Mariae in Rockford