Patient’s Falls: Court Finds No Deviation From The Standard Of Care, Family’s Suit Dismissed.
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The family’s lawsuit alleged only in general terms that not enough was done at the nursing facility to prevent their loved one from falling. However, the lawsuit does not point to any specific deviation from the standard of care.
The proof in court must include a nursing or medical expert’s assessment of the patient’s needs and proof from the record that those needs were not met.
CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEAL December 19, 2018Because she suffered from dementia and was unable to care for herself the seventy-seven year-old patient was discharged to a nursing facility from the hospital. Staff at the hospital had recommended a 24/7 bedside sitter due to her extreme risk of falling if she tried to get out of bed by herself.
On admission to the nursing facility her attending physician ordered that she be situated where she could easily be observed, like near the nurses station, that she be watched directly when she was out of bed and that she receive a wander guard. After she fell three weeks into her stay the interdisciplinary team reviewed her care plan but made no changes. After another fall the team ordered a lap belt alarm and a tray for her wheelchair, which were provided.
Several weeks later a nurse noticed she was in pain. An x-ray disclosed a fracture of her fibula, apparently from an unwitnessed fall. The patient was unable to recount what happened. At the hospital x-rays disclosed further leg trauma.
The son filed suit against the nursing facility as his mother’s guardian and continued the suit for the family as her probate administrator after she passed from unrelated causes. The California Court of Appeal upheld a summary judgment of dismissal because the family could not point to any deviation from the standard of care by the staff of the facility. The fact an elderly dementia patient falls, in and of itself, does not prove negligence by caregivers.
Castillo v. Healthcare, 2018 WL 6630332 (Cal. App., December 19, 2018).More references from nursinglaw.com
http://www.nursinglaw.com/patient-fall-nursing-negligence.htm
http://www.nursinglaw.com/patient-fall-wheelchair.htm
http://www.nursinglaw.com/patient-fall-nurses-charting.htm
http://www.nursinglaw.com/patient-fall-care-plan.htm