IDPH has cited and fined Granite Nursing & Rehabilitation nursing home in Granite City after a resident suffered a fractured femur due to an unsafe transfer.
The resident at issue had been assessed as needing assist of two with all transfers. This was incorporated into her care plan, which specified that all transfers were to be accomplished using a mechanical lift.
On the day of the accident, the resident was being transferred manually (not with a lift) by a single aide (not two) when the aide tripped on the resident’s night stand, causing a fall. The resident was brought to the hospital where she was diagnosed as having a fractured fenur which required surgery.
Having an implementing a reasonable care plan, combined with thoughtful, diligent nursing care, gives nursing home residents the best chance at maintaining their quality of life and avoiding accidental and/or unnecessary injuries. The flip side to that of course, is that violating the care plan exposes nursing home residents to risk of unnecessary, preventable injuries.
In this case, there was a reasonable care plan put into place which called for the resident to be transferred using a lift with the help of two aides. That care plan was not be followed when this nursing home fall occurred. The aide was attempting to transfer the resident manually and by herself. The aide’s loss of balance led directly to the resident’s injury.
This is of course the obvious answer to the question of why did this injury occur. There is likely a deeper answer which relates to understaffing of the nursing home where there simply was not enough help available to meet the care needs of the residents. As a result of this, the aide, feeling the pressure to get on with everything else that needed to be done, chose to not wait for the lift to be brought to the room and chose to not wait for a second aide to help her. She chose to gamble with the resident’s safety instead, and the resident lost.
The issue of understaffing goes back to the basic choices about how nursing homes operate.
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:
Use of improper sling leads to resident being dropped from lift at Carlinville Rehab
Resident falls from lift at Oregon Living & Rehab
Failure to use gait belt at Jacksonville Skilled Nursing & Rehab
Hitz Memorial Home resident dropped from lift
Fractured femur from improper transfer at Frankfort Healthcare & Rehab
Resident dies from brain bleed after fall at Elmwood Nursing & Rehab in Maryville
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