Spartanburg Accident Attorneys
The choice to place a loved one in a nursing home is a difficult decision often made with a heavy heart. For many families it is a last resort when a loved one requires constant care, supervision, and protection beyond what family members are capable of providing at home. Nursing home residents are among our most vulnerable citizens. They deserve respect and care. Too many nursing homes falls short of their duties. Nursing home negligence can lead to accidents, assaults, and health problems that can be fatal to nursing home residents. Those who survive are often condemned to a significantly reduced quality of life.
Nursing Home Falls
Fall prevention is one of the basic responsibilities of nursing home and one of the primary reasons that many people enter a nursing home setting. Falls among the elderly are common and can be deadly. Falls in nursing homes are disproportionately high compared to falls among people of the same age group who are not in nursing homes.
Nursing home negligence and abuse that can lead to falls includes:
- Inadequate supervision
- Failure to properly assess residents for fall risk, and respond accordingly
- Malnutrition and dehydration
- Medication errors
- Use of chemical restraints
- Failure to assist a resident who can still walk, but cannot walk safely on his or her own
- Failure to help resident with transferring, such as from a bed to a chair
- Failure to respond to a resident in a timely fashion when they call for help or assistance, prompting them to take action on their own
- Inadequate foot care
- Shoes which do not fit properly
- Lack of handrails and grab bars
- Improper bed height
- Improper toilet seat height
- Poorly fitted wheelchairs
- Poor lighting
- Clutter and obstacles
- Wet or slippery floors
Nursing Home Accidents and Injuries
Falls are just one type of preventable nursing home accident that can have devastating or fatal consequences. Other examples of nursing home accidents, incidents, and injuries that can result from nursing home negligence include:
- Physical assaults by other residents, staff, or visitors
- Choking
- Medication errors
- Elopement and wandering
- Malnutrition and dehydration
- Cuts and burns
- Severe sunburn
- Broken bones and fractures
- Infections and bedsores
- Illnesses
- Gradual, premature decline in physical or mental health
- Preventable or premature dementia
- Brain injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Loss of mobility
- Permanent disability
- Shortened life expectancy
- Chronic pain
- Diminished quality of life
- Coma
- Death
If you suspect or know that your loved one has been the victim of nursing home negligence in Spartanburg, the Dan Pruitt Injury Law Firm can help. Please, call us at (855) 440-8104 right away or contact us online to schedule your free consultation.