Nursing Home InjuriesNursing Home Falls

The process of being admitted into a nursing home involves medical assessments, billing determinations and paper work. Customers of nursing homes often do not realize that the nursing home determines the level of care that is needed for a resident prior to admission. A nurse or other medical professional will typically review submitted medical records, take a complete health history and assess the needs of the future resident. Every nursing home does or should determine whether a resident is at risk for falling. The nursing homes will rate the risk that a resident has of falling and based on the risk level will take precautions and assign staff to follow safety rules and to assist residents to avoid falls. The nursing home should institute fall prevention procedures.

Call 301-383-1522 to schedule a nursing home fall consultation with a Top 100 Maryland Super Lawyer and a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney.

Medical professionals conduct a fall risk assessment that will correspond to a level of service. The fall risk assessment is often performed on a preprinted check list style form. Common factors that increase the risk of falling include:

• Prior Falls
• Weakness
• Incontinence
• Dementia
• Neurological Deficits
• Dizziness
• Overactive bladder
• Confusion
• Gait problems
• Osteoporosis
• Balance problems

Most medical facilities will take steps to mark a person as being a fall risk as well as instituting actions that indicate a resident is a high fall risk. Typically residents will be fitted with a wrist band indicating that the resident is a high fall risk as well as a sign on their door indicating the fall risk level. Monitoring services are also a sign that a patient is a high fall risk. This may include an alarm that goes off if a resident pulls away for their wheel chair or bed. A hospital bed with guards to prevent residents from getting up on their own or falling off a bed is an indication that they are a fall risk.

The nursing home malpractice lawyers at Patterson Law offer free nursing home malpractice consultations at their Bowie office.

Nursing homes are paid for the services that they provide or claim to provide. Residents that require the assistance of one person to do certain activities are billed accordingly. Residents that require the assistance of two people to shower, use the bathroom and perform other similar activities are charged for this care. In most medical malpractice cases the standard of care required for a patient is heavily debated. The designation of resident as a fall risk or a high fall risk will usually trigger the following of written protocols by the facility. If the facility is billing a health insurer and a resident for those services it is difficult for the health care provider to claim that those services were not medically necessary.

Bowie nursing home malpractice lawyer, George Patterson frequently handles cases involving the violation of fall risk protocols by medical facilities. These violations have resulted in serious head injuries, fractures and even death. If you or a loved one sustained injuries as a result of nursing home malpractice please call lawyer George Patterson for a free consultation to discuss your case.