By Dan Noll on May 26th, 2024 in Articles, Nursing Home Abuse
Compensation for Nursing Home Falls Explained by Springfield Nursing Home Fall Lawyers: Can You Sue a Nursing Home for a Fall in Illinois?
As our loved ones age, they become more at risk for certain types of accidents such as falling. Indeed, statistics reveal that one in four older adults will fall each year, with about 10% of those falls resulting in a serious injury. When we are unable to properly monitor and care for our loved ones to prevent accidents like falls, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers are facilities that can do this for us. Although many nursing homes do a satisfactory job of preventing falls, some do not. In fact, the Springfield nursing home fall lawyers at the Noll Law Office know that some facilities not only fail, but some are outright dangerous for residents and even increase the risk of falling. Thus, when victims and their families ask can you sue a nursing home for a fall in Illinois, the answer is often yes.
Unfortunately, defendants and their lawyers or insurance adjusters will argue that falls are a well-known risk to older adults and, therefore, victims are not entitled to compensation. Although it is true that falls are a known risk, that does not mean that victims cannot recover compensation. Indeed, being a known risk to families just means it is even a larger and better-known risk to facilities that are meant to prevent and guard against those types of injuries. This is particularly true when factoring in the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act. Therefore, if you or a loved one were injured in nursing home fall, contact the Springfield nursing home fall lawyers at the Noll Law Office by dialing (217) 414-8889 to schedule a free consultation.
How Can a Nursing Home Defendant Be Liable for a Well-Known Risk?
At first, the arguments raised by a defendant may seem logical – how can they be liable for a well-known and even common risk such as falling? A particularly tactful insurance adjuster may even partially convince families that there is no right to compensation, but appear to be a “good guy” by offering nominal compensation anyway.
That’s your sign it is a trap. Never accept it without speaking to a nursing home fall lawyer like one of those at the Noll Law Office.
Just because something is a common risk, that does not absolve a defendant from its negligence. In fact, it requires a heightened level of care. Thus, Illinois law requires nursing homes and related facilities to do certain things to protect residents from falls. When they fail to comply with the standard of care that they are required to fulfill, they may be liable for fall injuries to residents.
This can occur in several different ways, including the following:
Facilities Must Contact Fall Risk Assessments
One of the largest responsibilities of a nursing home, rehabilitation center, or another type of related facility is to conduct a fall risk assessment during the admission of a resident. This means conducting an evaluation of the resident by both asking questions and conducting a physical examination. Some of the things that a nursing home complying with its duty will do include the following:
- Taking a history from the resident and family members (specifically asking whether a resident has fallen before)
- Assessing a resident’s vision
- Performing a physical examination, particularly of a resident’s feet, ankles, knees, hips, and back
- Checking a resident’s balance and ability to walk, sit down, or stand up
- Evaluating what procedures a resident recently had and whether it could affect walking (i.e., leg surgery)
- Determining whether a resident’s medications increase the likelihood of falls
- Performing an emotional and cognitive examination to determine whether a resident’s mental health may make him or her a fall risk (i.e., dementia residents tend to wander and elope, increasing fall risks), and
- Otherwise examining relevant information about a resident to determine whether he or she is a fall risk.
The failure to conduct this admission evaluation is generally considered to be negligent, especially when a resident is brought to a nursing home because he or she has fallen at home before. Thus, when asked if can you sue a nursing home for a fall when there was no admissions examination performed, the answer is often yes.
Facilities Must Provide Fall Risk Residents With Certain Precautions
Once a resident has been determined as a fall risk, facilities must provide those residents with a certain level of protections. These protections can range from something minor like grab bars or high-grip socks, to extreme measures like 1 on 1 supervision. The level of protection that a resident needs is based on a facility’s fall risk evaluations, as well as a physician’s orders.
Some of the proper precautions that a nursing home should offer to a fall risk resident include the following:
- Identifying fall risk residents with high-visibility bands for all staff to see
- High-grip socks
- Grab bars
- Rooms that are on a ground floor
- Lowering a bed
- Moving furniture away from the bed, chairs, or other high-traffic areas
- Having bed alarms or sensors to alert staff to come and assist when a resident is getting up
- Keeping nighttime lights on brighter than normal to help a resident see
- Using a wheelchair with working brakes that are easy to use
- Doing more frequent bed checks or rounds on a resident
- Using bed rails when a physician believes that it is necessary to prevent falls
- Using one on one, staff to resident supervision, which might start only during the day but could extend into the evening
- Reducing dosage or outright stopping the use of blood thinners in residents who are a fall risk to prevent brain injuries, organ injuries, or other serious harms, and
- Other precautions that are within the standard of care.
Thus, it is also a “yes” to the question if you can sue a nursing home for a fall when the facility falls to provide proper precautions and safeguards.
Facilities Must Continue to Evaluation Residents, Especially After a Fall
Even after an admission evaluation, nursing homes must continue to evaluate residents and whether they are a fall risk. This may come on a routine basis or after a change in status, such as after a surgery. An evaluation is also warranted after a resident does fall, even if the resident does not suffer any injuries. The failure to perform these regular evaluations can also be negligent and result in liability against a nursing home.
Facilities Must Also Maintain a Reasonably Safe Premises
Although there is much emphasis on the inherent traits of a resident in a nursing home fall case, there are some factors that must further be considered. This includes how a nursing home maintains its facilities. All property owners, maintainers, and those in control of a premises must keep the property reasonably safe and free of defects that could cause foreseeable harm. Nursing homes particularly must keep their premises safe, and could be liable in certain types of fall causes caused by their negligence in failing to do so.
This includes some of the following types of accidents:
- Failing to clean up spills or leaks
- Improper or excessive use of floor wax or cleaning supplies
- Inadequate lighting, especially on stairs or near steps
- Improperly secured handrails or grab bars
- Vacuum cords or other wires left in walking areas that could present a fall risk
- Bunched-up rugs or damaged carpets
- Unmarked or improperly maintained floors that create an uneven walking surface
- Debris or garbage on the ground
- Dangerous accumulations of snow and ice in walking areas, and
- Other types of slip, trip, and fall defects that are often more dangerous in nursing homes due to residents who are more at risk of falling.
Still Not Sure if You Can Sue a Nursing Home for a Fall? Call the Noll Law Office to Speak with Their Springfield Nursing Home Fall Lawyers
If you or a loved one suffered a fall in a nursing home, you may be entitled to compensation with the help of an experienced nursing home fall lawyer. At the Noll Law Office, their compassionate and skilled staff have been helping families in Illinois for over five generations, standing up to some of the largest nursing homes and insurance carriers in the region. If you are unsure if you can recover compensation for a fall in Illinois, contact the Noll Law Office today to schedule a free consultation to learn more about your rights to compensation and how their nursing home fall lawyers can help you.