If there is one thing that is dangerous, it’s having slick floors in a nursing home. The elderly already have difficulty walking in some cases, and they may use canes or walkers to help them get around. With slick floors, it’s easy for those helpful medical devices to slip out from under them, leaving them injured on the ground.
When an elder falls in a nursing home, there is a potential to have the nursing home held liable for the conditions that led to the injuries. For example, if a nurse spills a patient’s water on the ground and does not mark the spill before running off to get something to clean it up with, then someone may walk across it or slip on the wet area. Blocking off the area or leaving a sign are some of the best ways to prevent falls based on slick areas.
Sometimes, a premises is dangerous because of the negligence of the nursing home’s team in monitoring the flooring. For example, if there is a piece of carpet that is sticking up or a resident that has spilled a drink onto the linoleum, both could pose a threat to the less-mobile elders in the facility. On top of that, a fall at the age that many people are in nursing homes could mean breaking hips, arms and wrists or worse.
If your loved one falls in a nursing home, your attorney can talk to you more about a premises liability claim and what you can do to keep them safer in the future.