Slip & Fall Injuries

Fall-related injuries are a major health threat for nursing home residents. Older people who live in nursing homes tend to fall more frequently than older adults who live within the community. Approximately 50 percent of nursing home residents aged 65 and over fall each year, and nearly 1,800 die annually as a result of their falls. About 10 to 20 percent suffer injuries, and 6 percent sustain fractures. In a typical 100-bed nursing home, 100 to 200 falls are reported each year, and many go unreported. When older people fall, they can experience decreased physical functioning, a reduction in the quality of life, decreased confidence, and an increased fear of falling, which can lead to further functional decline, depression, social isolation, and feelings of helplessness.

The law requires nursing home residents to receive adequate supervision and assistive devices to prevent accidents. When a resident enters a nursing home, a plan of care must be developed. Within this plan of care, the resident's risk of falling must be assessed to determine what assistance the person may need to get around.

There are a variety of reasons why a nursing home resident might fall, including weakness and gait problems associated with old age. Unfortunately, however, many nursing home residents fall because of the nursing home's negligence . Examples include falls caused by:

Wet floors
Poor lighting
Lack of necessary bedrails and improper bed height
Improperly maintained or fitted wheelchairs
Clutter
Medications, especially psychoactive drugs
Difficulty in moving patients, or assisting them to the restroom, due to understaffing
Failure to have sufficient staff to answer call buttons
Failure to have call buttons that are in proper working condition
Failure to properly train staff in lifting and handling techniques
Failure of the staff to adequately supervise residents
Poor foot care
Restraints
Weakness and gait problems associated with malnutrition and/or dehydration

Put our experience to work for you

When a loved one as been a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, you need an experienced law firm that will work hard to protect your loved one's rights. The attorneys at Edgar Snyder & Associates have been helping injury victims and their families for over 40 years. In addition, our highly-rated law firm has represented more than 25,000 injured people and has answered over 350,000 injury-related legal questions. Let us put this experience to work for you.

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If someone you care about has been the unfortunate victim of abuse or neglect in a nursing home, you can contact our law firm for a free consultation of your claim by:

Calling our law firm from anywhere in the United States toll-free at 1-866-648-7608. Our phones answer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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We will answer your questions without charge and there is no obligation to use our services. And, as we say in our TV ads, "there's never a fee unlesswe get money for you."

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Copyright 2002-2008 Edgar Snyder & Associates , A Law Firm Representing Injured People, with offices throughout Pennsylvania including Pittsburgh, Erie, Johnstown, Ebensburg and Altoona. Although this website is not intended to solicit clients for matters outside of the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and West Virginia, we have relationships with other nursing home abuse & neglect personal injury attorneys and lawyers throughout the United States.