Chicago Personal Injury Law Blog

A Colorado family won a $375,000 jury verdict against a nursing home for the death of their mother. The mother had been admitted to a nursing home for rehabilitation following back surgery. On the last day of the mother's admission, the nursing home staff failed to respond to the call light to help the mother go to the bathroom. The mother tried to reach the bathroom on her own, but fell and suffered a fractured ankle. Complications from the fracture resulted in the wrongful death of the mother.

The evidence at the trial showed that there were not enough people on hand at the nursing home to meet the resident's needs. Illinois has a formula that sets forth a minimum number of staff that must be on hand to take care of the residents, but federal regulations require nursing homes to have enough people on hand to meet the needs of the residents on a 24/7 basis. Failing to have enough people, or short-staffing the nursing home, is a form of nursing home neglect and abuse.

Illinois nursing homes almost always meet the mathematical standard contained in state regulations, but often fail to meet the more stringent standard. When there are not enough people to meet the care needs of the residents, the inevitable result is poor care for the residents, often manifesting itself in pressure sores or malnutrition. Also, when faced with the choice of soiling themselves or waiting for help, nursing home residents will at times try to make to the washroom on their own, increasing the chances of injuries from falls.

The other take-away from this news story is the fact that fractures have a serious adverse effect on the mortality and morbidity of senior citizens, meaning that fractures are a much more serious event for a senior citizen that someone who is younger. Hip fractures in particular are well-recognized as placing senior citizens at risk of suffering death from complications of hip fracture.

Labels: falls in nursing homes, Nursing home abuse and neglect, wrongful death