Newport News Patient/Hospital Falls Lawyer

Individuals over the age of 65 are most at risk, especially those with compromised mental status and/or stability or gait problems. Hospital patient fall injuries last a significant amount of time and require physical therapy, surgery and other extensive treatment. Older individuals also tend to be slow to recover due to their age and general health decline. 

Hospitals are providing care for patients 24/7, so are responsible for any negligence. Hospitals and their employees have a duty to provide the necessary care for all patients.

There are numerous ways a healthcare provider’s negligence causes a hospital fall, including:

• Toileting: The majority of hospital patient falls are caused by nurses and aides not assisting patients with toileting properly. Some fail to respond to call bells on a timely basis, forcing patients to go to the bathroom unassisted. Others assist patients to the bathroom, yet then leave them alone in the bathroom unattended.
• Transfer/transport: Toileting aside, high fall-risk patients require assistance — sometimes even special devices — when transferring between beds, chairs, gurneys, rooms, etc. Moreover, direct supervision of the patient while in a wheelchair or gurney is often necessary for high fall-risk patients too. Hence, the failure of nurses to assist, accompany or otherwise safeguard causes hospital falls.
• Assessment: As a threshold matter, sometimes hospital nurses simply fail to assess whether the patient is a high fall risk. Other times, nurses perform a patient fall risk assessment, yet fail to complete and/or score it properly. Further, occasionally patients are not re-assessed when required by changing shifts or circumstances. As a result, the patient does not get the benefit of special fall precautions deserved and needed.
• Intervention: Even when a patient is assessed properly as a high fall risk, sometimes hospital nurses fail to follow through with the safety interventions required for their patient. As a result, falls occur.
• Other situations: High fall risk patient falls in other hospital contexts also result in healthcare provider liability.

A fall is also dangerous because of the potential for the individual to strike something on his or her way down. For example, if patients fall and hit their heads on a nearby table, they can suffer a traumatic brain injury that requires extensive medical treatment or even suffer wrongful death. Speak with attorney Avery T. “Sandy” Waterman, Jr., Esq. as soon as possible to start your claim and hold those liable accountable for your injuries.