A 79-year-old is admitted to a nursing home due to dementia. He also suffers from depression, osteoporosis and diabetes mellitus. He needs assistance getting out of bed and has been identified as a significant fall risk. One night, he attempts to get out of bed without assistance, falls and breaks his right femur. While recuperating from the fall he becomes hypoglycemic and slips into a diabetic coma.He eventually recovers from the coma and fracture well enough to resume his prior level of activity.

How do you prove nursing home negligence when the resident decided to get out of bed without assistance? Why is the nursing home negligent when the man’s pre-existing medical condition predisposed him to both the fracture and the coma?

A claim was made against the facility for not properly assessing fall risk and implementing necessary precautions to prevent or minimize fall injury. The facility did not use common technology and procedures such as a bed alarm, motion detector, cushioning floor mats or lower the bed height. The facility also failed to monitor the resident’s blood sugar as ordered. A settlement was obtained for the fracture and the near death experience
of the coma.