I was told he fell whilst trying to use the bathroom at night. He was not able to walk without assistance and was mainly bedridden so I wonder why this was allowed to happen. He died 5 weeks later after being in hospital and then going back to the nursing home. He was 87 with dementia.I want to know if the care home was negligent in such a situation.
Your Dad broke his hip and that is life threating. I know a woman in Moms AL that broke her hip. Came back to the AL in a wheelchair. Her old friendly self and passed 2 wks later.
"Hip fractures are highly lethal for older adults—carrying up to a 30% mortality rate within the first year. This high fatality rate is driven by severe complications from immobility, including fatal blood clots (pulmonary embolisms), life-threatening lung infections (pneumonia), and the compounding stress of surgery on pre-existing health conditions."
Restraints in my State and boarding states are illegal in Nursing Homes. No side rails can be used either. Hospitals I think can get away with certain retrains but not Nursing facilities.
So sorry for the loss of your Dad.
But in all honesty FALLS HAPPEN. It is not a matter of if but when.
I can see now all the arguments that will be brought up.
1. He should not have been left unattended.
Response: This happened at night when staff last checked he was asleep.
2. He probably rang for help to the bathroom but no one came.
Response: We have no indication that he rang or called for assistance.
"Mr. Smith" had dementia and often did not ring for assistance
3. He should not have been able to get out of bed.
Response: We are unable to use restraints so rails are not allowed. We did have the bed lowered so if he tried to get out of bed it is safer.
Victoria2010, your dad had dementia. Your dad had a fall that resulted in a fracture of his hip. This could have happened at any time day or night. As I said above falls happen. It might have happened while he was on his way to breakfast, it might have happened getting up from watching TV.
I will also mention that a person with dementia even after surgery does not do well as they have a very difficult time with Rehab.
I am sorry for your loss. I think to go to court and drag this out potentially for years is futile.
A nursing home is the "home" of the resident and the client has agency if they want to get up and walk around.
Physical restraints are rare in Florida hospitals as the hospitals have to have CNA's check on the client every so many minutes and log that they have checked on the client to ensure that the client has not rolled into a bedrail and choked.
It is not illegal to use bedrails (a physical restraint in Florida) but the law requires the client to be checked every so many minutes by at least a CNA and this check to be logged. Due to staffing shortages it is tough to comply with the law so nursing homes have moved to beds/mattresses dropped to the floor with gym pads for those at risk.
I very much doubt “illegal”! Sweeping statements like that are usually inaccurate and unhelpful.
Seniors that are bedridden are much higher risk of falls than seniors that walk around the facility.
In Florida it is illegal to use restraints on seniors in nursing homes. Restraints include bedrails up. Too many seniors died from rolling over in the nursing home bed and having their neck jammed against the bedrail and choking to death.
For seniors that are a fall risk generally you want a bed that drops low to the ground with a gym pad on the floor in case the senior rolls out of bed.
I am sorry for your loss.
What would have been the options? To restrain him? Here in the US facilities are extremely reluctant to use anything that will keep a resident in bed and appear as a "restraint", including bed rails. Smart places put the mattress on the floor or use concave mattresses.
Medication? So that he'd not wake up during the night? This doesn't work for everyone.
A 1-to-t attendant who was at his bedside all night? This would only be possible if you paid for such an overnight aid.
He had dementia so would not even remember to ring or call for help. Demented elders falling facilities is practically an Olympic sport. My very elderly Aunt, with advanced dementia, forgot she couldn't walk without assistance (living in her own home). At night we put barricades around her bed, just in case. One night she got up to go to the bathroom (something she had never done before) and fell on the carpeted floor, breaking her hip. When in the rehab facility she continued to try to get out of bed and even trying to "escape" out the window. She passed away before we could transition her to LTC, where I'm sure she would have continued to attempt to walk. I was dreading it because there was no solution for this scenario. It was a mercy that she passed when she did. Please think of your Father's passing as a mercy as well. Dementia just makes their life worse and worse.
Before that at home he would get out of bed and try to stand multiple times per day and night, despite being reminded he did not have the strength. Even when we had an aide stay with him overnight, of course she had to leave the room for a few minutes to go to the bathroom herself and he would try it then.
Falls are not entirely preventable.
My condolences on the loss of your father.
Some patients would have to be physically restrained to the bed or chair to prevent falls. Did they discuss this with you? It is a sensitive/traumatic step to take, and not always in the patient's best interests, even if it WOULD have prevented his fall.
With my grandmother, the SNF offered to restrain her, but we decided against the trauma of that and made the conscious decision that "if she falls, she falls" and we were ready to bear the consequences of that, even a resulting death.
I don't think that a fall by itself is negligence, but if they were supposed to have a bedside commode and did not, or if he called and they did not respond, or some other failure of care, then perhaps there was negligence. I'm not qualified to judge, for sure, but I'm sorry for your loss.
Then I will say that of course the care home wasn't negligent in your fathers passing. Your father probably forgot that he couldn't get to the bathroom by himself because of his broken brain, so he just tried to go by himself thus falling and breaking his hip.
Falls are often the demise that will take an elderly person out especially when that elderly person has dementia. And if truth be told, it's often a blessing when a fall happens allowing the person not to have to suffer anymore in a body and brain they no longer have any control over.
Your father is at peace now and doesn't have to struggle anymore and I hope that that brings you some peace even if in just a small way.
I'm sure your father wouldn't want you second guessing how his death went down, but would want you now moving forward in honoring his memory.
God bless you.