Nursing homes provide assisted living facilities to the elderly who cannot take care of themselves due to chronic ailments, incapacitation, and more. While these facilities ensure safety for all their residents, lapses in the public safety standards at nursing homes can result in devastating physical injuries to the elderly, who are more prone to accident-related morbidity and mortality. Additionally, the cognitive and motor decline in old age puts this segment of the population at an elevated risk of slip and fall accidents and subsequent physical injuries. While slip and fall accidents are dangerous to all age brackets, they are particularly catastrophic in the elderly, in whom slight injuries can mean permanent loss of function, disfigurement, prolonged recovery, and even death.
A slip and fall in a nursing home can dramatically alter the life of a victim, making them suffer years of physical pain and emotional trauma. Physical injuries in the elderly are also associated with a higher risk of mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, and more. If your loved one got injured in such an accident, you can file a lawsuit against the negligent nursing home administration, management, or staff for the recovery of financial and physical damages, besides compensation for emotional pain and suffering and incidental expenses.
Consequences of Nursing Home Accidents
Serious slip and fall accidents that happen to the elderly residing in nursing homes may result in several types of physical injuries, including bone fractures, internal bleeding, organ damage, concussions, joint sprains and dislocation, hemorrhagic stroke, rib fractures and pneumothorax, spine fractures, and paralysis, convulsions, coma, and death. These accidents carry a higher mortality rate in the elderly due to pre-existing medical or surgical conditions in the victims and greater susceptibility to lasting physical and mental harm due to slip and fall injuries.
Proving Negligence
Since a nursing home is responsible for providing adequate care to its residents, any negligence or lapses in safety standards can result in a breach of the duty of care owed by the nursing home to all its occupants. In all nursing home slip and fall lawsuits, the burden of proof falls on the victim, which includes proving that the nursing home administration or staff failed to perform their duty. It is also the responsibility of the plaintiff’s legal team to demonstrate how the accident resulted in physical and emotional harm to the victim.
Slip and fall accidents can result from poor maintenance of safety standards, active safety hazards, inadequate nursing care, unsafe walkways, lack of supervision, failure to provide assisted ambulatory tools like canes or wheelchairs, etc. Proving negligence in such cases can be tricky and comes down to experience and skill. An attorney who is well versed in nursing home accident lawsuits can help develop a successful legal strategy to prove liability and recover damages.
Conclusion
If your loved one got injured in a slip and fall accident at an assisted living facility like a nursing home, you can file a lawsuit against the negligent party to seek justice for your damages. A competent attorney can fight in court to uphold the rights of your elderly relatives and get them the compensation they deserve.