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Reviewed by an award-winning attorney at DALLI MARINO
Salvatore Marino, Esq. is a founding member of Dalli & Marino, LLP, and has been the managing partner since the firm’s inception in 1996, representing clients in New York City, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau County, Suffolk County and Westchester.
Falls in nursing homes happen more often than many people realize, and when they do, families are often left wondering whether a loved one’s fall was simply an accident or the result of preventable mistakes by the facility. The short answer is that you may be able to sue a nursing home if a fall causes a serious injury and you can show that the facility failed to provide proper care or maintain a safe environment.
What Responsibilities Do New York Nursing Homes Have Toward Residents?
Nursing homes have a legal and ethical responsibility to provide a safe environment for their residents. This responsibility, known as a duty of care, requires the facility to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm, including falls.
Expectations for care include:
- Proper supervision and staffing levels: Ensuring residents receive the attention and monitoring they need.
- Fall prevention programs and risk assessments: Identifying nursing home residents at higher fall risk, such as those with mobility issues, balance problems, cognitive impairments, or certain medical conditions, and taking steps to reduce the likelihood of a fall.
- Safe environments: Maintaining non-slip floors, secure handrails, clear walkways, and other safety measures.
- Proper use and maintenance of equipment: Ensuring walkers, wheelchairs, beds, and other equipment are safe and functioning correctly.
If a nursing home fails to meet these responsibilities and a resident experiences a serious injury, such as a broken bone, head trauma, or other significant harm, a family may have grounds to file a nursing home fall lawsuit.
Proving Nursing Home Negligence After a Fall
Falls are not always preventable. They can sometimes happen for reasons beyond the facility’s control, like sudden medical episodes or unpredictable resident behavior. To succeed in a nursing home lawsuit, families need to prove that the facility’s actions, or lack of action, contributed to the injury. Establishing this can be complex, and gathering the right documentation is crucial to understanding what happened and building a strong nursing home fall case.
Key types of evidence that may be relevant include:
- Medical records and incident reports: These documents show the severity of injuries and provide an official account of the fall. They can also indicate whether the facility followed proper protocols immediately afterward.
- Statements from staff, visitors, or other residents: Witness accounts can clarify what led to the fall and whether supervision was adequate at the time.
- Staff logs or shift reports: These records can help show whether residents were being monitored appropriately or if lapses in care occurred.
- Photographs of hazards or unsafe conditions: Visual evidence of wet floors, broken equipment, or cluttered walkways can demonstrate risks that were present at the time of the fall.
- Documentation of prior complaints or repeated falls: Evidence that the facility ignored previous incidents or known hazards can strengthen the case that the fall was preventable.
Collecting this information promptly is important. The goal is to create a clear picture of the circumstances leading up to the fall and show how the facility may have contributed to the injury.
What Compensation Can Families Recover for Fall-Related Injuries?
Falls can have serious consequences for elderly nursing home residents, ranging from broken bones to head injuries, and in some cases, long-term or permanent disabilities. By filing a nursing home lawsuit, families may be able to recover compensation to cover the impact on the resident’s health and quality of life.
Common types of compensation include:
- Medical Expenses: This can include hospital bills, doctor visits, surgery, medication, and rehabilitation related to the fall.
- Long-Term Care Costs: If the fall leads to permanent or long-term injuries, compensation may cover ongoing care, such as assisted living, home health aides, or physical therapy.
- Pain and Suffering: Damages may be available for the physical pain, emotional distress, and reduced quality of life caused by the injury.
- Loss of Enjoyment and Independence: If the fall limits the resident’s ability to perform daily activities or enjoy hobbies, compensation may account for the loss of independence and personal freedom.
- Other Related Costs: This can include transportation for medical appointments, home modifications, or additional support services that become necessary due to the injury.
In the most serious cases, a fall can be fatal. If a resident dies due to a fall caused by negligence, the family may be entitled to pursue a wrongful death claim, which can include compensation for medical expenses, funeral costs, and the loss of support and companionship.
Dalli & Marino Can Help You Hold a Nursing Facility Accountable After a Preventable Fall
When nursing home residents fall, it can have serious and lasting consequences not just for the residents themselves but also for their families. When a fall results from a facility’s failure to provide proper care, families may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, long-term care, pain and suffering, and other losses.
At Dalli & Marino, our attorneys have experience in all types of cases involving nursing home neglect and nursing home abuse. If you believe that your loved one has suffered a preventable fall, reach out to us for a free consultation. Our New York nursing home fall lawyers can review your situation and help you understand whether you may have grounds to file a lawsuit.
