A resident at the Genesis Senior Living nursing home in Aledo, Illinois, broke her pelvis after a fall from her wheelchair. No one at the facility witnessed the fall. The resident was discovered on the floor with her wheelchair tipped over.
Whether or not the initial nursing home fall constitutes neglect is a difficult question to answer without access to the resident’s plan of care. A plan of care is developed for each resident who enters a nursing home. The nursing home staff performs an evaluation that includes establishing the likelihood of a nursing home fall and develops a standard that should be used to prevent these falls from taking place.
What makes the fall at Genesis Senior Living so clearly a case of nursing home neglect is not the fall, but rather how the nursing home administration acted, or failed to act, in the aftermath of the incident.
Anytime a resident experiences a nursing home fall, the facility is obligated to notify the family and the resident’s physician of the incident so that he or she can decide what actions to take.
No one at the Genesis Senior Living facility notified the woman’s physician of her nursing home fall for two full days. During those days, the nursing home resident experienced extreme pain. Nurses’ notes during those two days point out that the resident was unable to bear any weight, complained of hip pain, and clutched at her side during transfers.
If you have a loved one who has been seriously injured after a nursing home fall, contact the Law Offices of Barry G. Doyle for a free and confidential evaluation of your case. Our Chicago nursing home lawyers have the experience and the expertise to manage every aspect of your nursing home fall lawsuit.
Other blog posts on nursing home falls:
Resident rolled out of bed by staff at Warren Park in Chicago
Danville Care Center cited for unsafe transfer
Unsupervised resident falls from wheelchair at Meadowbrook Manor