Fall: Nurse Negligent, Unaware of Patient's Ambulation Status 

  This resident’s nurse apparently did not know the physician had ordered stand-by assistance, or understand what that meant. APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS, 1998.

  The eighty-three year old resident fell twice, once in the bathroom in her room, the second time in the hallway.

  The first time she fell she was not wearing her non-skid slippers. The second time, her nurse came to the room and told her she was being moved, to resolve conflicts with her roommate. The resident though she was to pack her own belongings in plastic bags, which she did and slung them over the top bar of her walker, proceeded into the hall, and fell.

  The telling evidence for the Appellate Court of Illinois was the resident’s nurse’s testimony that the nurse did not know what "stand-by assist" meant as used in the resident’s ambulation assessment. She said she thought it meant the nurse was to assist as the nurse deemed necessary, and she thought this resident was independent.

  The court reasoned the resident could have gone ahead independently in a way that seemed dangerous because her nurse was not offering assistance, as the nurse apparently did not appreciate the need. Parker v. Nursing Home, (Ill. App., 1998).