Defending against a fall allegation at your nursing home

Falls happen in nursing homes, sometimes resulting in injuries to the nursing home resident. The resident or their family may accuse your nursing home facility of neglect. An allegation of neglect could cause you many problems, both in terms of finances and your facility’s reputation.

Not all falls happen because of neglect. Sometimes falls in nursing homes are the result of the resident’s medical or health conditions. Other times, the injury may not be the result of the fall.

Nursing home fall statistics

Nursing home residents usually fall multiple times each year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) averages this out to 2.6 falls per patient per year. Many of these falls cannot be prevented and happen due to the patient’s chronic medical conditions or cognitive issues.

Additionally, once a fall occurs, there is an increased chance of falling again. Falls are often thought of as a symptom of an underlying disease.

Nursing home neglect claims related to a fall are based on negligence, meaning that the facility failed to provide adequate supervision of the resident, which led to the fall and resulting injuries.

Potential defenses

If you are accused of neglect due to a resident’s fall, you must be prepared to put on a strong defense. You can show the specific protocol in place at the nursing home to prevent falls and injuries.

You can also provide detailed information and documentation of the training you provide to your nursing home employees and show that you follow all federal, state and local standards when it comes to running your nursing home.

Additionally, you can research if any evidence of the fall occurring is available, such as a video, which could show that your staff was present and did everything possible to prevent the fall. Another defense could involve presenting evidence of the nursing home resident’s medical condition which may have caused the fall.

As you can see, there are many defenses you could use if you are accused of negligence from a resident’s fall.