Moving senior loved ones from their homes to long-term care facilities is always challenging. Hopefully, your fears will be quelled after visiting the facility you choose and speaking to staff and administrators. Proper care is essential if the patient is unstable and requires help moving from place to place.
Unfortunately, immobile or unsteady patients are too often dropped, which signals employees may not have been trained adequately or the facility is understaffed—for instance, if only one employee attempts to move a patient instead of getting help from another employee. Dropped patients in Toledo nursing homes suffer not only physical injuries but also emotional injuries as their dignity is diminished. If your loved one was dropped while in an assisted living facility, speak with one of the compassionate nursing home negligence attorneys at Zoll & Kranz, LLC.
How Do Patient Drops Happen?
Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs), also called State Tested Nurse Assistants (STNA), must undergo 75 hours of training—including 16 hours of clinical work—before taking and passing the Nurse Aide Training Competency Evaluation Program (NATCEP). CNAs provide most nursing home patient care, primarily helping residents with daily tasks like walking, turning in bed, bathing, using the toilet, and eating.
CNAs often lift and move patients, injuring themselves more often than construction workers—according to Medicare data. CNAs leave the profession at a high rate due to low wages and burnout from trying to care for too many patients. Medicare reports that one CNA is charged with assisting eight residents at best, and, at worst, one CNA cares for 18 patients. When residents’ direct caregivers are overworked, the chances rise for dropped patients in Toledo nursing homes. A diligent attorney from our firm could investigate these situations to determine if they are based on negligence.
Examples of Dropped Patient Accidents in Nursing Homes
Immobile patients are expected in long term care facilities, and staff should reasonably be prepared to care for them. Facilities must train new CNA hires to move patients properly, and enough staff must be available to help. In a rush to cover shifts mandated by Ohio law, nursing homes can negligently assign immobile patients to unprepared CNAs. Examples of common dropped patient accidents in Toledo assisted living facilities include:
- Transferring a patient into or from a wheelchair
- Using a gait belt or Hoyer lift without proper training
- Changing bed linens and rolling a patient improperly
- Pushing a wheelchair onto or off a transport van without securing the patient
- Transferring patients from their beds to chairs, or from chairs into the bathroom
Because immobile patients are already in frail health, any drop can cause severe injuries. Thinning bones caused by aging will break easily, and medication may thin blood causing excessive bleeding.
Statute of Limitations
Dropped patients have only a limited time to respond to a drop with a lawsuit. Ohio Revised Code Section 2305.10 requires plaintiffs seeking damages to file a claim within two years of the incident. A skilled lawyer will need time to collect and assess evidence, so they should be consulted as soon as possible after a patient is dropped in a Toledo nursing home.
Committed Toledo Attorneys Helping Dropped Nursing Home Patients
Overworked and improperly trained staff working for skilled nursing facilities that value profits or that cannot find enough suitable help is a volatile situation for immobile residents. They can quickly be dropped and harmed because of the irresponsibility of those caring for them.
We believe our elderly family members deserve the best care and respect. If caregivers fall below that standard, our dedicated team will work tirelessly to prove negligence and get elderly residents compensated for their losses. Call Zoll & Kranz, LLC if your loved one is a dropped patient in a Toledo nursing home.
