Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Fall in Nursing care

What is the proper protocol when you have a patient with a history of chronic falling? “The proper protocol for a patient with a history of falls is firstly to review his or her fall assessment evaluations with re-assessment for changes in condition. Review of previous interventions for fall prevention with review of medications, review of patient’s sleep patterns. Preventative measures such as low beds, body or mattress alarms, moving the patient to a room close to high observation areas can be employed. Fall risk and the prevention of falls is based on individual risk factors. The facility has a responsibility to assess the resident’s risk factors and develop a comprehensive care plan based on those risk factors. The use of fall mats is based on the assessment made by the interdisciplinary teams. The team has to weigh the benefits and risks of such interventions. While a fall mat may not have prevented the fall it may have reduced the risk of injury during the fall. The decision to use such a mat would have been determined by factors such as, where the history of falls occurred , as well as the risk of the mat creating a hazard in the event the resident was ambulatory or mobile in a wheelchair. If the fall occurred from the patient’s bed and the injury occurred at bedside and the intervention (for example, placing a mat on slippery areas) would not have created a risk greater than the benefit it would have created, then a mat may have been an appropriate measure to prevent an injury. In this case several questions need to be asked. After the fall and return to facility did the facility attempt to restore the resident back to their prior level of activity. Did they monitor for complications after the resident underwent the orthopedic procedure?” If you or a loved one has been injured by negligent medical care. Please feel free to call my office. We will evaluate the case at no cost to you. 1-888-760-7339