Nursing home negligence can lead to a variety of injuries. Falls are some of the most common and impactful injuries for nursing home residents. Elderly residents are more likely to suffer severe injuries from a fall. In cases where the nursing home was partially at fault for the fall, the resident might be able to sue. Feel free to reach out to a New York City nursing home negligence attorney if this happened to you.

Top Causes of Nursing Home Negligence

Looking at the top causes of nursing home abuse may shed some light on why nursing home accidents still happen. Staff shortages might be one of the most commonly associated causes of any kind of nursing home abuse or negligence. When fewer nurses are available, this tends to lead to:

• Increased stress for other staff members who work longer hours
  
• Higher rate of night shift work
• Burnout amongst staff can lead to mistakes
• Mandatory overtime
• Poor staff training
• Rushed procedures
• Less time available for each resident

With higher stress comes a higher risk of making mistakes. Less time for residents opens the possibility up for failing to catch a resident's concern or a minor error. All it takes is one minor error to cause an accident. This could be something as simple as not putting the bed railing up correctly and the resident falling out of the bed.

Falls like this can also happen with misuse of other medical equipment. When nurses are rushed, they may drop a resident or make a mistake when transferring a resident into a wheelchair. Forgetting to put up a wet floor sign could also be considered negligent.

How to Sue for Nursing Home Negligence

You might be able to sue for nursing home negligence if you can prove the cause of your fall. However, you must prove the cause was at the hands of someone else. Consider all the environmental factors that increased your chances of falling like:

• Poor lighting
• Wet floors
• Unstable bed wheels and railings
• Broken equipment or missing parts
• Faulty wheelchairs and walkers
• Uneven flooring
• Loose wires
• Cluttered spaces

Identify what caused your fall and then be prepared to collect evidence of what happened. Try contacting a New York City nursing home negligence lawyer if you have questions about how to do this. Not only can a lawyer help you collect evidence, but your lawyer could help you prove negligence for significant compensation.

You will need to prove that the nursing home staff breached a duty of care. Then you will have to tie this breach to your injuries by proving causation.

New York City Nursing Home Negligence Attorney

Going up against a nursing home can be intimidating. Contact the Sullivan and Brill Law Firm by dialing (212) 566-1000 to talk to a New York personal injury lawyer for a free consultation today. Our Bronx attorneys might be able to help you obtain compensation for your medical costs and emotional distress. We serve clients throughout New York City, Long Island, Kings, Bronx, Queens, Richmond, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and Rockland Counties, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.