8 Ways to Prevent Falls in Nursing Homes - New York Personal Injury Attorney Brett Leitner explains various ways that nursing homes can lessen the risk of falling in order to prevent serious injury.
Watch as Brett Leitner of Leitner Varughese discusses several preventative measures that nursing homes can put into place to lessen the risk of accident and injury.
Because fall accidents happen so often in nursing homes, many people don’t realize that nursing homes are required by law to take measures to prevent fall accidents as much as possible. When your loved one is admitted into a nursing home, and also throughout their admission, the nursing home must properly determine what their risk of falling is. Depending on how much of risk the resident is of falling, there are several preventative measures that the nursing home can put into place to lessen the risk of accident and injury.
Some of the available measures of accident prevention that a nursing home can provide, depending on the circumstances, include:
- Providing a BED ALARM and a CHAIR ALARM to alert staff if a resident attempts to get out of bed or the chair without assistance.
- Frequent monitoring or rounding by the nursing staff to check on the resident to see whether they need anything, such as food, water, help going to the bathroom, to get dressed, to get changed, or to be taken to the activity room.
- Frequent toileting by the nursing staff, either to assist the resident in going to the bathroom, or changing the resident if they wear adult briefs or diapers.
- Providing a bed that is very close to the floor in case a resident rolls out of bed or falls from the bed.
- Providing proper footwear to prevent slipping.
- Providing undergarments with padding to limit the risk of hip and leg injury.
- Providing gym mats on the floor next to the bed to prevent injury.
- These are just a few of the available interventions that may be used to prevent falls.
If you have any questions about injuries sustained in a nursing home, I invite you to call us at (212) 671-1110, or visit us online at www.lvlawny.com, to discuss your legal options. Visit our website where you can view more videos and media content from our law firm.
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Video Transcript
Hi, I’m Brett Leitner, one of the partners at the personal injury firm Leitner Varughese in New York. I want to talk to you about one of the most common causes of serious, and sometimes deadly, injury in nursing homes – FALLING. Most people know that falling down can often lead to serious injury. But when an elderly nursing home resident falls, this can often lead to devastating injuries due to fragile bones and other existing medical conditions. Because fall accidents happen so often in nursing homes, many people don’t realize that nursing homes are required by law to take measures to prevent fall accidents as much as possible. When your loved one is admitted into a nursing home, and also throughout their admission, the nursing home must properly determine what their risk of falling is. Depending on how much of risk the resident is of falling, there are several preventative measures that the nursing home can put into place to lessen the risk of accident and injury. Some of the available measures of accident prevention that a nursing home can provide, depending on the circumstances, include: Providing a BED ALARM and a CHAIR ALARM to alert staff if a resident attempts to get out of bed or the chair without assistance. Frequent monitoring or rounding by the nursing staff to check on the resident to see whether they need anything, such as food, water, help going to the bathroom, to get dressed, to get changed, or to be taken to the activity room. Frequent toileting by the nursing staff, either to assist the resident in going to the bathroom, or changing the resident if they wear adult briefs or diapers. Providing a bed that is very close to the floor in case a resident rolls out of bed or falls from the bed. Providing proper footwear to prevent slipping. Providing undergarments with padding to limit the risk of hip and leg injury. Providing gym mats on the floor next to the bed to prevent injury. These are just a few of the available interventions that may be used to prevent falls.
If your loved one has fallen down in a nursing home, it is important to make sure that the nursing staff has properly assessed them to determine whether they suffered an injury. Depending on the fall, an Xray may be necessary to see if there were any fractures to the legs, hips, arms, spine or other areas. An MRI or CT scan may be necessary to determine whether they suffered any head or brain injury in the fall. If you have any questions about injuries sustained in a nursing home, we invite you to call us at (212) 671-1110, or visit us online at www.lvlawny.com, to discuss your legal options.
