Last reviewed and updated: March 15, 2020
Mom Fell at a Nursing Home in Philadelphia, Now What?
Many residents nursing homes in Pennsylvania will invariably suffer a fall accident. Whether it’s a fall from a bed, a fall in the bathroom, or a fall out of a wheelchair, fall accidents can be fatal for the elderly. Below is a common nursing home fall accident scenario in Pennsylvania.
You get a call from a nursing home in Philadelphia. Your mom has been taken to the nearest emergency room after a fall accident. You ask what happened. The response is vague. While at the hospital, you find out your mom has suffered serious fractures, but due to medical complications, surgery is not a viable option. You find out that your mom fell out of her bed. With dementia, it’s difficult for her to recall how the accident happened.
After a few weeks, when it’s time to return to the nursing home, you ask nursing home managers about what happened. Again, the response is vague. So, you ask your mom’s nurse who tells you that she thinks a nursing assistant forgot to put the bed rails up. You talk to nursing home management who tells you that the nursing assistant has since left, and they will be sure to keep a close watch on your mom. You’re worried, but you have no choice but to keep your mom at the nursing home. You cannot miss any more work to care for her.
Nursing Home Fall Accident Case – Legal Analysis
Pennsylvania Nursing Home Accident Law
In Pennsylvania, care facilities like nursing homes can be held liable for fall accidents which result in injury. This includes falls from beds, wheelchairs, etc. In fact, nursing homes often commit negligence which causes these kinds of accidents. Common acts of negligence which lead to fall accidents include:
- negligence in hiring nursing home staff,
- failure to train staff properly,
- failure to provide adequate staffing,
- failure to adhere to medical instructions, and
- failure to provide adequate supervision.
In a nursing home bed fall accident case, the most likely cause of the accident is the home’s failure to train staff properly and failure to provide adequate staffing. Since most nursing homes operate for profit, staffing decisions are often made to maximize profits. Therefore, staff may be stretched too thin, and daily care duties are often improperly assigned to untrained, unqualified nursing assistants.
In a bed fall accident case, the nursing home often places all the blame on a nursing assistant at the nursing home. Nursing assistants often get blamed for failing to put the bed rails up properly, forgetting to put up bed rails, etc. However, when interviewed, nursing assistants often reveal a similar pattern of poor management: 1. the nursing home did not provide any training on using bed rails properly, and 2. the assistant was assigned to multiple residents without proper supervision (i.e., with so many residents to care for, the assistant was simply stretched too thin).
Related: Nursing Home Fall Accidents in Pennsylvania & New Jersey – Falls from a Bed or Wheelchair
In the above scenario, it is highly likely that the nursing home resident fell out of her bed due to the nursing home’s failure to properly train the nursing assistant. Also, additional evidence, such as staff rosters, staff schedules, etc., would probably show that the nursing home did not hire enough nurses and nursing assistants. Therefore, filing a lawsuit against the nursing home would probably be successful. The resident would be able to obtain financial compensation for her physical injuries, medical expenses, and pain and suffering.
Pennsylvania & New Jersey Nursing Home Fall Accident Lawyers
If your mom or dad was injured in a fall accident at a nursing home or long term care facility in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, please call our nursing home fall accident lawyers for a free, no obligation consultation. (215) 985-0777
Our lawyers are skilled at handling nursing home negligence, abuse and assault cases in the Pennsylvania area, including Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Delaware County, and Bucks County. Our lawyers also handle nursing home accident cases in the New Jersey area.
DISCLAIMER: This website does not create any attorney-client relationship or provide legal advice. Our lawyers provide legal advice only after accepting a case. It is imperative that any action taken is done on advice of counsel. Since each case is unique, discussion of prior outcomes and settlements in past cases is no guarantee of a similar outcome in current or future cases. Contacting our lawyers via the email contact form on this website does not create an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through the contact form.