Nursing Home Negligence

Falls

Most nursing home residents are at risk for falls.  Although not all falls are preventable, the law requires a nursing home to comply with the standards of nursing home practice, including the North Carolina regulations and federal statutes, to attempt to prevent falls.  Fall prevention includes recognizing a resident's risk for falls, implementing interventions to try to prevent falls, modifying interventions if falls continue, implementing interventions to prevent injuries from falls (floor mats, pads), ensuring that there is adequate staff to monitor the residents, notifying the proper healthcare providers of falls, recognizing medication side effects, timely toileting, and conducting fall investigations.  If you or a loved one suffered a serious injury or died as a result of injuries sustained in a fall, click the "Confidential Case Submission" link below.

Stage 3 and 4 Pressure Sores

Although not all pressure sores are preventable, many pressure sores are preventable.  Pressure sores are generally caused by a number of factors, including, unrelieved pressure, damp skin, poor nutrition, and poor hydration.  Residents with certain medical conditions are at higher risk for the development of pressure sores, including diabetes, hypertension, malnutrition, peripheral vascular disease, and cancer.   Nursing Homes are required to assess all residents for risk of pressure sores, implement interventions to address residents' risk of developing pressure sores, routinely inspect all residents' skin, implement treatments to address any early pressure sores, report pressure sores to health care providers including physicians and physician assistants, consult wound care experts if ordered by a physician, and notify registered dieticians of the development of pressure sores or nutritional issues. 

If you or a loved one developed a severe pressure sore in a nursing home, click the "Confidential Case Submission" link below.