IDPH has cited and fined Taylorville Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Center after a reside there fell and suffered a fractured hip.
The resident at issue was coded on her Minimum Data Set (MDS) as requiring the extensive assist of one with ambulation. Extensive assistance means that the staff member provides actual weight bearing assistance with walking. When this is done properly, it requires the use of a gait belt. A gait belt is a large canvas strap that is applied around the midsection of the resident. The staff member then uses the belt to control the resident and to control the rate of descent should the resident begin to fall. The resident had also been assessed in the care planning process as being at risk for falls based on a number of factors including dementia, medication usage, dizziness, poor safety awareness, and a history of falls.
On the day of this nursing home fall, the resident was in the dining room and got up, apparently to go to the bathroom. An aide was standing nearby at the time of the fall believing that the resident required only supervision. No gait belt was applied to the resident, and when she started to fall, the aide tried to stop the fall by grabbing at the resident’s pants. The resident fell to the floor and was later diagnosed as having suffered a fractured hip.
There are at least two issues with this fall. First, the aide was not using a gait belt when the use of one was clearly necessary. Secondly, she did not know what the care plan for this resident required, as she believed that the resident was supervision only. One of the parts of the care planning process is having a means whereby the plan is communicated to the staff who is required to care it out. After all – having the world’s greatest care plan counts for zero if the people charged with carrying it out do not know what is supposed to be done. If the care plan is not being properly communicated to the staff, it speaks to breakdowns in the basic delivery of care systems at this nursing home.
One of our core beliefs is that nursing homes are built to fail due to the business model they follow and that unnecessary accidental injuries and wrongful deaths of nursing home residents are the inevitable result. Order our FREE report, Built to Fail, to learn more about why. Our experienced Chicago nursing home lawyers are ready to help you understand what happened, why, and what your rights are. Contact us to get the help you need.
Other blog posts of interest:
Loft Rehab of Rock Springs resident suffers hip fracture in fall
Auburn Rehab resident suffers fractured hip in fall
Resident fall at Walker Nursing Home
Repeated resident falls at Heritage Health in Springfield end with broken arm and brain bleed
Taylorville Skilled resident suffers fractured hip after multiple falls
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