Negligence in nursing homes often stems from overworked staff, crowded facilities, and inadequate training. While the signs are not always obvious, a visiting family member may notice physical and behavioral changes that reflect nursing home negligence. Sadly, nursing home abuse can lead to life-changing injuries and early death.
If you suspect that a loved one is experiencing abuse in a nursing home or assisted living facility, there are options available. Speak with a Connecticut nursing home injury lawyer right away if you notice these common injuries.
What Are the Most Common Injuries that Occur in Nursing Homes?
Nursing home injuries are often a sign of inadequate care or outright abuse. When maltreatment goes unchecked, residents can suffer preventable injuries that compromise their health, comfort, and quality of life. These conditions can develop gradually or appear suddenly, depending on the circumstances. Below are some of the most common injuries that can arise due to nursing home negligence:
1. Bed and Pressure Sores
Bed sores, also called pressure sores or pressure ulcers, occur when the patient is left in one position for too long. Pressure on tissue over bony parts of the body causes blisters and lesions. You will typically see pressure sores on the tailbone, pelvic bone, ankles, elbows, or heels. Over time, lack of blood flow to these areas can cause dangerous tissue death, gangrene, and sepsis.
Bed sores are preventable, and nursing home care providers are trained to reposition residents regularly to prevent this condition. A nursing home facility that fails to move, treat, or monitor patients appropriately may be liable for resulting bed sores, infections, and related injuries.
2. Sepsis
Sepsis occurs when a patient’s immune system overreacts to a severe infection, causing it to attack healthy organs and tissues. It is a medical emergency that can lead to death if not treated promptly. In nursing homes, sepsis can arise from bacteremia, or bacterial infection of the blood.
Bacteremia is usually a secondary infection that occurs when another infection such as meningitis, pneumonia, gastrointestinal infection, bed sores, or a urinary tract infection goes untreated. Although bacteria are the most common culprit, residents can also contract sepsis from fungal, parasitic, and viral infections.
Signs of sepsis include:
- Rapid heartbeat
- Chills or shaking
- Very high or very low body temperature
- Clammy or sweaty skin
- Confusion
- Rapid breathing
- Pain or discomfort
If you notice these signs in a nursing home resident, seek immediate emergency care. Sepsis in a nursing home resident is often the result of inadequate medical treatment or neglect.
3. Restraint Injuries
Chemical and physical restraint in nursing homes often leads to injury and poor health outcomes. Patients may be restrained with physical devices such as straps, vest restraints, tight bed sheets, and bed railings. Chemical restraints typically include sedatives or antipsychotics administered to subdue the resident rather than treat a specific condition. In either case, restraint can violate a patient’s right to dignity and comfort.
Excessive force and extreme restraint can lead to serious physical and mental injuries, and studies show that physically restrained patients are more likely to experience complications like deep vein thrombosis, bed sores, and falls.
Nursing homes that restrain residents often claim it’s for safety, particularly when there isn’t enough staff to monitor residents at risk of falling or wandering. But restraints tend to cause the very harm they’re supposed to prevent, contributing to falls, pressure ulcers, muscle loss, and other serious injuries.
Federal law also strictly limits their use. Under 42 CFR § 483.12, nursing home residents have the right to be free from physical or chemical restraints used for discipline or convenience. The use of restraints are only permitted when required to treat a resident’s medical symptoms. A short-staffed facility cannot restrain a resident simply to make their care easier to manage.
4. Malnutrition and Dehydration
Malnutrition and dehydration are more likely in older adults, as they may lose their appetite and sense of thirst. Workers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities must monitor each resident’s eating and drinking habits. When residents do not receive adequate monitoring and care, they are more susceptible to falls, infections, weakened muscles, and depression.
Nursing home care providers should also monitor residents’ nutrition and hydration to identify underlying issues, such as difficulty swallowing or taking medication. Signs of malnutrition and dehydration include frailty, weakness, constipation, and cognitive impairment.
5. Choking and Blocked Breathing Tubes
Choking is another issue that can arise when a nursing home fails to monitor residents’ eating and drinking habits. Residents may have difficulty chewing and swallowing, which may lead to choking on food or medication.
Causes of choking include loss of swallowing muscle strength, dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, and hard-to-swallow food or medication. Sadly, some choking issues arise due to physical nursing home abuse or inadequate restraint use. If a resident suffers injury, brain damage, or death because of nursing home abuse or neglect, the facility can be held liable.
Additionally, breathing tubes can become blocked by mucus and other materials. When nursing home staff fail to take adequate care of patients on breathing tubes, these obstructions can lead to lack of oxygen, brain damage, and death.
6. Burns
Nursing home residents can suffer life-altering or fatal burns from a range of conditions. Scalds from bathwater, hot drinks, and food are among the most common sources of burns due to nursing home negligence. Other burn-causing factors in nursing homes include:
- Contact with hot surfaces like radiators and heating pads
- Chemical burns from cleaning agents and misapplied topical medications
- Electrical burns caused by faulty medical equipment or exposed wires
- Smoking near flammable materials or oxygen tanks
Staff and care providers in nursing homes are obligated to monitor patient activity to prevent dangerous burns, which can have major and even deadly complications for the frail and elderly. When burns and complications arise because of nursing home abuse or neglect, the victim and their family can seek compensation from those responsible.
7. Medication Injuries
Patients in elderly care settings experience the highest rate of preventable medication harm. Negligent treatment in nursing homes includes incorrect drug administration. Medication errors in nursing homes can happen when the facility does not maintain proper records, the doctor prescribes incorrect medication or dosage, or a nurse or other caretaker administers the wrong drug or amount. Such errors can lead to serious patient injury or death.
8. Falls
Falls are a common source of preventable injury in nursing homes, and many resident fall injuries are often due to resident care and medication issues. Nursing homes must implement fall-prevention methods, including monitoring patient behavior, providing mobility assistance, and modifying medications as needed.
Frequent falls can also be an indicator of other health issues, such as muscle weakness or dementia. Nursing home caretakers who fail to monitor or review resident conditions may overlook these warning signs, to the detriment of the patients’ health and well-being.
9. Head Injuries
Falls are also the leading cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI) for adults over age 55. A brain injury can arise when a patient falls and hits their head against an object or the floor. Residents can also suffer from head trauma if they experience shaking, jolting, or a blow to the head.
Signs of TBI may not be immediately obvious. Seek medical attention for a nursing home resident who exhibits the following TBI symptoms:
- Headaches
- Dizziness or balance issues
- Nausea or vomiting
- Fatigue
- Light or sound sensitivity
- Difficulty concentrating
- Confusion
- Memory loss
- Changes in sleep patterns
- Anxiety or irritability
More severe head injuries may result in unconsciousness, coma, personality changes, and death. Caretakers and nursing home staff can usually prevent these injuries with appropriate care and monitoring.
What Nursing Home Issues Lead to Negligence and Injuries?
Recent studies show that more than one-third of adults aged 65 or older who were admitted to a skilled nursing facility suffered an adverse event, such as a fall or medication error, within the first 35 days of their stay. Common causes that lead to these outcomes include:
- Inappropriate medication administration
- Multiple medications
- Environmental hazards
- Lack of communication between staff members
- Insufficient individual resident safety plans
- Overall poor care quality
- Organizational and administrative issues
Loss of quality care in nursing homes is a growing concern. In recent years, the availability of nursing home beds has decreased significantly, as has the share of beds in high-quality facilities. These shortfalls are largely due to short staffing and a rapidly aging population.
Even when a nursing home or assisted living facility is short-staffed, residents have a legal right to treatment consistent with state and federal patient rights laws. These rights include, but are not limited to, free choice of care, freedom from restraints, privacy, confidentiality, equal access, visitation, and accommodations.
If your loved one is not receiving care consistent with legal obligations and industry standards, a nursing home abuse attorney can help you navigate the process to seek accountability and compensation.
What to Do If a Loved One Shows Signs of Nursing Home Negligence or Injuries
Nursing home residents who experience neglect or abuse at the hands of staff members, care providers, or other patients are in a perilous situation. If you suspect nursing home negligence, bring your claim to Trantolo & Trantolo’s nursing home negligence lawyers. Our law firm has over 85 years of experience helping injury victims and their families pursue justice in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Long Island. Contact us for a free consultation to discuss your legal rights and options.
