For an elderly person, a fall is not a minor incident. It can be a life-altering, catastrophic event. A broken hip, a head injury, or a fractured wrist can mark the beginning of a steep decline in health, mobility, and independence. When your loved one is in a nursing home, you trust that the facility is taking every necessary precaution to prevent such a devastating event. So, when you get that dreaded call from the nursing home telling you that your parent or grandparent has fallen, it’s natural to be filled with anger and to ask the question: How could this have happened?
It’s a question that deserves a clear answer. Families often mistakenly believe that falls are just an inevitable part of aging. While it’s true that seniors are more susceptible to falls, a vast majority of falls in nursing homes are predictable and preventable. When a facility fails to take reasonable steps to protect a resident from falling, it is not just an accident—it is a form of neglect.
This guide is here to provide the clarity and support you need. We will explain the legal responsibilities of a nursing home in preventing falls and show you that you absolutely have the right to seek justice when a facility’s negligence leads to your loved one’s injury.
The Nursing Home’s Duty: From Assessment to Action
A nursing home is not a passive observer in a resident’s life. It has a legal and ethical duty to provide a safe environment. This duty is not one-size-fits-all; it is a dynamic process that begins the moment a resident is admitted.
1. The Initial Fall Risk Assessment: Upon admission, every resident must be thoroughly assessed for their risk of falling. This assessment should consider factors like their medical history, medications they are taking (some of which can cause dizziness), their mobility, their cognitive status, and any previous history of falls.
2. The Individualized Care Plan: Based on the risk assessment, the facility must create and implement an individualized care plan with specific interventions designed to mitigate the resident’s fall risk. This is not just a document that gets filed away; it is a working plan that all staff members must follow.
3. Implementation of Interventions: The care plan is only as good as its implementation. Common fall prevention strategies include:
- Providing assistance with walking and transferring.
- Keeping the resident’s room free of clutter and hazards.
- Ensuring adequate lighting.
- Using bed alarms or chair alarms for high-risk residents.
- Answering call lights promptly so residents don’t try to get up on their own.
- Providing properly fitted, non-slip footwear.
4. Ongoing Monitoring and Reassessment: A resident’s condition can change. The facility has a duty to continuously monitor the resident and to reassess their fall risk and update the care plan after any significant change in their health, or especially after a fall has already occurred.
When a fall happens, it is almost always because of a breakdown in one or more of these steps. This breakdown is negligence.
Building a Case: Proving Negligence in a Fall
To successfully sue a nursing home for a fall, your attorney must prove that the facility was negligent. This means showing that the nursing home breached its duty of care and that this breach was the direct cause of the fall and the resulting injuries.
An experienced nursing home abuse lawyer will launch a thorough investigation to uncover evidence of this negligence. This involves:
- Analyzing the Care Plan: Was the fall risk assessment done correctly? Was the care plan adequate for the resident’s known risks?
- Reviewing Medical and Staffing Records: Were the interventions in the care plan actually being followed? Were there enough staff on duty at the time of the fall to provide proper supervision?
- Interviewing Witnesses: Speaking with staff members, other residents, and family members to get a full picture of the circumstances surrounding the fall.
- Consulting Experts: Working with nursing and medical experts who can testify that the facility’s actions (or inactions) fell below the accepted standard of care.
Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)
Q: My mother was confused and got up on her own. Isn’t that her fault?
A: No. The nursing home is responsible for supervising residents, especially those with dementia or cognitive impairments who cannot be expected to make safe decisions for themselves. If the facility knew your mother was a fall risk and was prone to getting up on her own, they had a heightened duty to put interventions in place (like a bed alarm) to prevent that very scenario. Blaming the resident is a common but unacceptable excuse.
Q: The nursing home said the fall was “unwitnessed.” Does that mean we can’t prove what happened?
A: Not at all. Most falls in nursing homes are unwitnessed. The case is not about having a video of the fall itself. It is about proving that the facility failed in its duty to prevent the fall. The evidence is found in the facility’s own records—the inadequate care plan, the failure to respond to a call light, and the lack of proper staffing. These failures create the dangerous conditions that allow a fall to happen.
Q: What kind of compensation can we recover in a fall lawsuit?
A: A lawsuit can seek compensation for all the harm caused by the fall, including the resident’s medical bills (for the hospital stay, surgery, and rehabilitation), their physical pain and suffering, and their loss of enjoyment of life. If the fall ultimately leads to the resident’s death, the family can pursue a wrongful death claim.
Demanding Safety and Accountability
A fall in a nursing home is a serious event that should never be brushed aside as a simple accident. It is often a clear sign that a facility is failing in its most basic duty to keep its residents safe. Pursuing legal action is a powerful way to hold a negligent facility accountable and to secure the financial resources your loved one needs to recover from their injuries.
If your family member has been injured in a fall, you deserve answers and you deserve justice. Our compassionate legal team is here to help you get both. We invite you to contact us for a free, confidential consultation to discuss your case. Please visit our homepage to learn more about our firm’s unwavering commitment to protecting the rights and safety of our elders.