Falls are a leading cause of injury and death for elderly folks in and outside of nursing homes. However, falling is far more common in nursing homes, regulators report. That’s because:

• Roughly half of all nursing home residents across the U.S. fall at least once a year.
• About 1 in 3 residents who suffers a nursing home fall will end up falling down at least twice a year. 

With these falls, residents can sustain bone fractures, like broken wrists, ribs, arms, ankles, and hips. Falling at nursing homes can also cause traumatic brain injury. In fact, 1 in 5 nursing home falls causes a broken bone or a TBI. 

Like other forms of nursing home neglect and abuse, falls are avoidable — and they often indicate negligence like (but not limited to): 

• Understaffing 
• Failures to train nursing home staff
• Insufficient equipment, like wheelchairs and walkers
• Malfunctioning or unstable equipment, like beds or furniture
• Poor lighting 
• Cluttered, slippery, or uneven floors 
• A lack of care plans for residents 
• Inadequate or no fall management programs at the facility
• A company “culture” that routinely flouts safety and sidesteps care standards

If nursing homes were doing enough to care for their residents, falls would not be hurting and killing so many elderly folks at these facilities. 

Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Jack Modesett has investigated all types of fall cases, advocating for victims and helping them secure full, fair compensation and justice when nursing homes could and should have prevented falling accidents.