Nursing Home Lawyer

Seniors in nursing homes are placed there to be safe, but even the safest nursing home may be prone to neglect, carelessness and accidents. Falling is practically a guaranteed part of life, and nursing home staff should have plans in place to try to prevent falls, or plants in place to deal with falls when they happen.

Top Safety Concerns for Seniors

Everyone ages, sometimes gracefully, other times ungracefully. People’s memory can get spotty, their moods less stable, and more apt to fluctuate. Challenges such as those can make it harder to care for elderly people when they enter into nursing homes. Especially when it happens to more than one person at one time.

Not every nursing home incident can be prevented, but staff must provide care and that means planning for accidents.

Below are the top safety issues for senior citizens in nursing homes.

Falls and Trips

Falls are the most common injury that someone in a nursing home may experience. It’s estimated that every 15 seconds, a senior citizen is admitted to the Emergency Room, because they received an injury from falling. A big part of the problem is people aging, and with their age comes bone shrinkage, weaker muscles, less flexibility, and that causes more instability throughout a person’s body.

However, this does not mean that all falls have to happen. Nursing home staff must account for falls being part of an elderly person’s life and put measures in place to make the facility safer. Some of those measures are:

•  Caretakers can encourage residents to be physically active, as it may help counteract weak muscles, brittle bones and other issues that can occur from not being active enough.
• Nursing homes can assure that all rooms are carpeted. They can also assure that all rugs are taped down to prevent tripping.
• Residents may be recommended to use assistive devices. Walkers, canes and other assistive devices may be provided by the nursing home. These can stop falls, as a person isn’t relying on their legs to hold them up alone.
•  Falls are most dangerous in the showers, so nursing homes may provide rubber mats, grab bars and shower seats in the showers and baths to ensure that a fall is less likely. In some cases, residents shower with the help of a caretaker.

Not Having the Proper Assistive Devices

Having access to assistive devices, such as bed rails, wheelchairs, canes, walkers, bed lifts, bathing lifts and more, can lessen injuries. But not all injuries can be prevented. However, the less likely an injury may happen, the better chances of your loved one’s not getting hurt.

However, if your loved one’s nursing home does not provide assistive devices and they need them, injuries may be more likely. Staff could even be using the devices wrong. If your loved one is injured because of something like this, you should reach out to a nursing home negligence or nursing home abuse lawyer, such as the ones available at Davis & Brusca, LLC.

A good lawyer can help you combat nursing home injuries due to neglect or abuse. Senior citizens in nursing homes can easily be taken advantage of, and that is not okay.