Is nursing home liable for accident to patient while in their care?
Question Details: My mother has dementia/alz. & is in long term care facility. An LPN was pushing her in a wheelchair which had no foot rests. Mom had dbl knee replacement surg. 1 yr ago & w/out footrest she must keep her feet up in order to be pushed. She drops/brakes w/her feet when she gets tired of holding them up. She did this and obviously the nurse kept pushing her resulting in my mother being flipped out of the chair, face first, onto the concrete floor sustaining forehead abrasion, 2-3 knots and 2 black eyes. I had to MAKE the LTF/Dr. order a cat scan of her head & xray of her hand!
absolutely. The nursing home is liable for the actions of their staff. There are two distinct ways of handling this matter. The first thing you will need to do is get her examined by a physician who is not aligned with that nursing home.
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They are absolutely liable. A staff member of theirs caused the injury. And moreover, your mother was in a condition (dementia) and place (nursing home) where they affirmatively assumed responsibility for her care--which includes not causing her injury.
If she, fortunately, did not suffer permanent or debiliting injury, what you can recover will be limited (recovery is proportional to damage or injury), but that doesn't make the nursing home less liable--it just affects what you could get from them.
