A hospital should be a place for healing, but for thousands of Americans each year, it becomes the site of a new injury. Patient falls in hospitals are alarmingly common, with estimates ranging from 700,000 to 1,000,000 incidents annually in the United States. These events can lead to severe injuries, prolonged hospital stays, and in the most tragic cases, wrongful death.
While not every patient fall is a result of negligence, most are preventable. Understanding the difference between an unfortunate accident and a breach in the standard of care is crucial for patients and their families. This article explains the common causes of hospital patient falls and clarifies when such incidents may constitute medical malpractice, giving you the information you need to protect your rights.
Why Do Hospital Patient Falls Happen?
Hospital nurses must assess patient fall risk on admission and continue reassessing throughout the stay. They know that the following increase a patient’s probability of falling:
- Patient factors. Advanced age, impaired mobility, cognitive issues like dementia, a history of previous falls, poor vision, and certain medical conditions make a patient more susceptible to falling.
- Medication factors. Drugs that cause dizziness, drowsiness, or confusion, such as sedatives, antidepressants, and some pain medications, significantly increase the risk of a patient falling.
- Environment and staffing. Poor lighting, cluttered walkways, and the absence of essential safety equipment, factors such as bed alarms or non-slip footwear, contribute to falls. Inadequate nurse staffing or a high proportion of inexperienced nurses also contribute to insufficient patient monitoring and assistance.
Hospitals are trained to recognize these conditions and put matching precautions in place. When that does not happen for a high-risk patient, preventable injuries follow.
When Does a Hospital Patient Fall Qualify as Medical Malpractice?
A patient fall becomes medical malpractice when it is a direct result of negligence. In legal terms, this means the staff or the facility failed to meet the accepted standard of care, and that failure caused injury. In Virginia, the standard is what a reasonably prudent provider in the same specialty would do under similar circumstances. Patterns that often signal negligence include:
- Failure to Assess Risk: Not performing a thorough fall risk assessment for a new patient, especially one who is elderly and has known cognition and/or mobility issues.
- Ignoring Safety Protocols: Failing to implement established safety measures for a high-risk patient, such as using bed alarms, lowering the bed, or providing non-slip socks.
- Inadequate Supervision: Leaving a patient who requires assistance unattended, particularly when they are trying to get to the bathroom or move from their bed.
- Medication Errors: Administering the wrong medication or dosage that impairs a patient’s stability without taking proper precautions.
- Lack of Staff Training: Insufficient training on how to safely use patient transfer equipment or follow fall prevention procedures.
If a fall occurs because the hospital staff neglected these fundamental duties, evidence collection is essential. Chart notes, medication administration records, staff assignment sheets, rounding logs, alarm records, and hospital policies and procedures can show what should have been done—and what actually happened.
Protect Your Rights After a Hospital Fall
If you or a loved one has suffered injuries from a patient fall in a hospital, it is essential to understand your legal options. In Virginia, you generally have two years from the date of the incident to file a medical malpractice claim, though some rare exceptions may apply. However, navigating these complex cases requires specialized legal knowledge.
Virginia’s contributory negligence rule can make it challenging to secure compensation if the defense can argue the patient was even slightly at fault contemporaneously.
If a loved one falls in the hospital:
- Request a physician evaluation and have the fall documented in the medical record.
- Photograph visible injuries, the room, footwear, and any device involved.
- Write down names and times, and speak with the charge nurse.
- Keep paperwork, including discharge summaries, medication lists, and any transfer notes.
- Do not sign forms you don’t understand.
These steps preserve details that are often lost within hours.
Why choose a local malpractice team
Hospital-fall cases fail or succeed in the details: risk scoring, staffing levels, handoffs, and whether precautions matched the patient’s actual condition that day. A medical malpractice lawyer in Newport News and surrounding localities who regularly handles patient-injury claims knows local facilities, record systems, and how to secure evidence before it disappears or becomes irrelevant. Experienced counsel coordinates with experts early, frames the standard-of-care questions clearly, and keeps the proof focused.
How Waterman Law Centers can help
If you or a family member suffered injuries in a hospital fall in Newport News, Hampton, or Williamsburg, you should not try to sort it out alone. Waterman Law Centers provides senior-partner representation from intake through resolution and is widely recognized for its award-winning work in medical malpractice and patient-injury litigation.
Speak to a medical malpractice lawyer in the Newport News area with a history of success. Contact Waterman Law Centers for a no-obligation evaluation with a senior attorney.