Here at The Dickson Firm, we have been representing nursing home residents and their families for over twenty five (25) years. We have litigation all over the State of Ohio in cases filed against the owners and operators of nursing homes where the resident has been neglected or abused. The most common types of neglect and abuse that we see includes: Falls, Bedsores, Elopement, and Assault.

FALLS

One of the most common types of cases involving nursing home neglect and abuse are cases involving falls in a nursing home.

Pursuant to those sections of the Code of Federal Regulations that apply to all nursing homes in the country, nursing homes are required to provide their residents with adequate supervision to prevent accidents. In order to provide their residents with adequate supervision, nursing homes have to be adequately staffed. All too often, nursing homes are understaffed, and, as a result, their residents are not adequately supervised.

If you are admitting someone you love into a nursing home and they are at risk for falls, you need to ask the nursing home what their plan is for preventing falls. Many nursing homes use alarms. Some alarms clip on the back of the nursing home resident' clothing, and then attach by a string to a magnet. If the magnet is pulled from its base, an alarm sounds and alerts the nursing home staff that this person is trying to get up. The staff must then promptly attend to the resident. Some alarms involve a pressure pad underneath the resident when they're sitting in a chair or lying in bed. If they try to get up and they take pressure off the pad, this, again, sounds an alarm and alerts the staff to the fact that the resident is trying to get up.

Falls can be incredibly harmful for an elderly nursing home resident. They can absolutely be fatal. After a person has a fall, particularly if they suffer a fracture, they have a loss of mobility. They often develop skin breakdown. They often develop pneumonia. Many, many nursing home residents do not survive a serious fall. Falls must be prevented.

SKIN BREAKDOWN

Many nursing home residents develop skin breakdown. This includes bedsores, pressure sores or pressure ulcers. Pressure sores is probably the most descriptive phrase because these sores come from unrelieved pressure.

Oftentimes a nursing home resident has suffered a fall and had surgery, and that's why they are in the nursing home. They are in the nursing home to recover. They now have a lack of mobility. They cannot turn or reposition on their own. Often they are in pain. The nursing home staff must come in and turn and reposition them every two (2) hours. If they do not, the resident will develop skin breakdown.

Skin breakdown is evaluated in stages: Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, and unstageable.

• Stage 1, the skin is reddened, but it's not yet open.
• Stage 2, the skin is now open.
• Stage 3, the skin is opened and deeper.
• Stage 4 bedsores can go all the way to the bone.

When a person suffers a bedsore, it takes a lot to heal that bedsore. This can drain a person. When a person has an open bedsore, they are very susceptible to infection. Skin breakdown must be prevented in a nursing home.

ASSAULT

Unfortunately, nursing home residents are often the victim of assault. Sometimes these assaults are committed by staff at the nursing home. Other times they are committed by other residents. The nursing home has a duty to provide their residents with adequate supervision to prevent accidents, including assaults. They have to properly screen their staff to make sure they do not have a history of violence or abusing residents. They have to properly evaluate the other residents to make sure they do not pose a risk to the other residents. Assaults can be physically harmful and emotionally detrimental to a nursing home resident. Tragically, we even see sexual assault in some nursing home cases.

There are laws designed to protect nursing homes residents. If a person has been a convicted of any number of crimes it is not legal for the nursing home to employ them. Nursing Homes are required to run a background check on every individual before they hire them to work at the nursing home. Often Nursing Homes do not run a background check on their employees and they hire people they should not hire.

A Nursing Home resident should never be assaulted.

ELOPEMENT

Most people think of an elopement as two people running away to get married. Unfortunately, in the nursing home context, it means a resident who leaves the nursing home unattended when they are not supposed to leave unattended. If a nursing home resident has dementia or other challenges, and they are not supposed to be walking around unattended, the nursing home has to make sure that precautions are in place to keep them safe.

Often, residents are put in a locked unit so they cannot leave the unit without somebody being with them.

Residents can be fitted with a WanderGuard that sets off an alarm if they go through a doorway. Nursing homes must provide their residents with adequate supervision. This requires the proper staffing of the nursing home. We see many cases where nursing home residents elope – or leave the nursing home unattended. This is very dangerous. Often they elope out of the nursing home in inclement weather and suffer injury just by being outside. Tragically they are sometimes struck by passing cars.

We have seen residents who have eloped from a nursing home injured or killed in many different ways. Elopements must be prevented.

If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call The Dickson Firm at 1-800-OHIO-LAW. We would be happy to talk with you, and help you in any way that we can.