Particularly when it comes to physically disabled patients, nursing homes must take steps to protect them from harm due to potentially dangerous conditions at the facility.
When facilities fail to take basic steps to safeguard patients from these environmental hazards, we frequently see patients getting severely injured or killed.
A recent example of nursing homes failure to take basic precautions to safeguard a patients comes from a Missouri nursing home, where a wheelchair-bound patient was left unattended– and without engagement of wheel lock– in a stairway at the facility.
Stltoday is reporting that the above circumstance forms the basis of a lawsuit against Avalon Garden Nursing Home (Missouri) filed on behalf of the Estate of Magdalen Mantych who died following a February 20, 2008 fall down a stairway at the nursing home. Ms. Mantych suffered a broken neck and blunt head trauma in the fall and died three days later from complications related to her injuries.
In my opinion there is simply no excuse for facilities allowing wheelchair patients unrestricted access to stairways. As a nursing home lawyer, I have been involved in numerous cases where patients have suffered horrific injuries following a fall down and interior or exterior stairway. Certainly, staff at these facilities need to be reminded how susceptible many of these patients are and remove patients from these hazardous situations before they harm themselves.
Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries:
Falls Amongst The Elderly Can’t Be Ignored
What Are The Rights Of A Nursing Home Visitor Who Sustains An Injury During A Visit?
Fall Leaves Veteran With Broken Neck In Illinois Nursing Home
Wheelchair-Bound Nursing Home Patients Must Be Properly Supervised To Avoid Injury