Columbia Nursing Home Falls Attorneys
If you and your family recently moving a loved one into a nursing home and now believe they are victims of neglect, it’s important to know you have legal options. As one of the leading causes of fatal and nonfatal injuries in older Americans across the country, falls are extremely common for nursing home residents.
And while some falls truly are accidents, many injuries are more severe when nursing home staff do not respond within a sufficient amount of time. The Columbia nursing home fall attorneys at Goings Law Firm, LLC have decades of experience representing victims of nursing home neglect and we will diligently work to hold negligent nursing homes and their employees responsible.
Deciding to move an elderly family member into a nursing home can be difficult for everyone. Whether because of age or illness, when a grandparent or parent can no longer care for themselves, they may require full-time assistance.
Unfortunately, nursing home neglect and abuse are shockingly common. A report from the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) surveyed 2,000 nursing home residents and found 44 percent reported abuse while 95 percent reported neglect. If you suspect your loved one is a victim of nursing home neglect, you need to take immediate action and speak up when they cannot.
Falls are scary for everyone, but they can be especially dangerous for elderly adults with limited mobility and weakened bone density. If not attended to right away, victims of falls may writhe in pain and be at risk of more severe injuries including death.
Nursing home staff members are expected to put the health and safety of residents above everything else, and when they are negligent and fail in their duties, your loved one can suffer the consequences.
Take the first step in holding these negligent nursing homes and employees responsible by contacting the Columbia nursing home fall attorneys at Goings Law Firm, LLC today by calling (803) 350-9230 or submitting our online form.
Why You Need an Attorney
If you suspect that your loved one is being neglected by nursing home staff or that they have fallen and didn’t receive proper care, you may not know where to turn. Facing this reality can be incredibly difficult and you may have a lot of questions about what you can do and how you can seek justice.
Nursing home fall cases are incredibly complex, and proving negligence can be difficult. Even if you feel you have sufficient evidence, pinpointing the exact moments of neglect or getting your loved one to speak up about the abuse is challenging. However, the Columbia nursing home fall attorneys at Goings Law Firm, LLC know how to go after nursing home facilities and individual employees to hold them liable.
When you hire a nursing home fall attorney, you are assured that an experienced and skilled legal professional will take care of every aspect of your case. This includes arranging intervention right away to move your loved one out of a dangerous facility, gathering evidence related to their fall and how the staff responded, consulting with doctors and medical experts, investigating the nursing home, negotiating a full settlement, and if necessary, pursuing litigation.
Common Causes of Nursing Home Falls
Along with having a responsibility to take proper precautions to prevent falls, nursing home employees are also expected to respond to falls and provide necessary medical care in a timely manner to minimize the long-term damage.
As adults age, the risk of falling and sustaining an injury increases dramatically. In fact, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an elderly adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall every 11 seconds, and an adult dies every 19 minutes from a fall. Since falls are the leading cause of fatal injury in older adults, if your loved one isn’t quickly cared for following a fall, their life may literally be in jeopardy.
Because nursing home residents are usually frailer, older, and more likely to have mobility issues compared to all older adults, falls are very common at nursing homes. Some of the usual causes of nursing home falls include:
- Muscle weakness and gait problems – These account for almost a quarter of all nursing home falls and are the most common.
- Environmental hazards – Walkers or other equipment left unattended in the hallway or common areas.
- Everyday hazards – From bad lighting and wet floors to beds set too high and poorly maintained wheelchairs.
- Medication-related falls – Certain medications like anti-anxiety drugs can put elderly people at greater risk of falling. More common if it’s a new drug or new dosage and the resident isn’t used to its effects.
- Mobility issues – Moving around and getting from one place to another becomes increasingly difficult as one gets older. Moving from the bed to the bathroom, getting in and out of the shower or bath, and even walking to the dining room without supervision can increase the chance of a fall.
A Columbia nursing home fall attorney can look at the details of your loved one’s accident to see what measures, if any, the nursing home had in place to prevent the fall, to see if there were working chair and bed alarms, and to see if any railings were damaged. We ask the tough questions to get to the bottom of what caused the fall and who was responsible.
What Should I Do If I Suspect Abuse or Neglect?
With over 200 nursing homes across South Carolina, tens of thousands of elderly and disabled adults around Columbia and the state depend on these facilities and professional care on a daily basis.
Sadly, nursing home abuse and neglect occurs at a far too frequent rate. According to another study from the NCEA, over half of nursing home staff admitted to mistreating residents within the past year, while another 17 percent of certified nursing assistants had some level of physical contact with a resident like pushing, grabbing, or shoving. No instance of nursing home abuse is acceptable, but these numbers are shocking and horrifying.
Realizing that your loved one may be a victim of nursing home abuse and neglect can cause pain, sadness, and anger. Even if you just suspect abuse without any sufficient evidence, it’s important that you take action so your loved one can be removed from harm’s way. That’s why it’s vital to contact a South Carolina nursing home fall attorney as soon as possible.
They can ensure that your loved one is protected and a thorough investigation gets underway. You should also report the problem to the following agencies:
- South Carolina Long-Term Care Ombudsman
- South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
- South Carolina Department of Social Services.
As soon as your loved one is no longer in immediate danger due to neglect, you and your attorney can hold the facility or individual staff members liable through legal action.
Contact Us Today
If your loved one suffered an injury due to a serious fall at a nursing home, you need experienced legal counsel to help you and your loved one get justice.
We will work tirelessly to get you and your loved one financial compensation to cover medical bills, costs to relocate them to another facility, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and in severe cases, wrongful death.
To learn more about your legal options and the next steps moving forward, contact Goings Law Firm, LLC now by calling (803) 350-9230.
