Nursing home injuries typically stem from negligence over time by overworked staff, improper treatment, and crowded facilities. Visiting family members can identify specific signs of neglect through behavioral changes in the patient. Injuries at nursing homes are widespread; in some cases, they could be due to abuse.
Fortunately, the patient’s family can sue the nursing home and the staff that participated in the negligence or abuse and seek compensation. If a loved one has suffered injuries at a nursing home because of neglect or abuse, you can contact a Cedar Rapids nursing home injury lawyer. This article will discuss some common injuries that occur in nursing homes.
Common Injuries:
1. Bed and Pressure Sores
Pressure sores are lesions that occur from persistent pressure on bony parts of the body. The most common places for pressure sores are elbows, heels, sacrum, etc. These sores can decrease blood flow to the area, which results in body tissues being destroyed.
2. Sepsis
Sepsis is typically a sign of meningitis. It is a blood infection. The infection affects white blood cells due to high amounts of bacteria. Some symptoms include fast breathing, fever, chills, rapid heartbeat, etc.
3. Restraint Injuries
Restraints require excessive force, and using force on older adults can result in internal bleeding, fractures, head injuries, and even death. Restraint injuries could be from physical or chemical restraints.
4. Malnutrition and Dehydration
Nursing home staff have the duty of monitoring patients’ eating habits. Neglecting to do so could result in malnutrition and dehydration, and patients would become more susceptible to infections, depression, weakened muscles, etc. They could experience difficulty swallowing medicines as a result.
5. Choking
Choking coincides with a failure to monitor a patient’s eating and drinking habits. Negligence in monitoring can lead to patients developing difficulty swallowing medicines, and as a result, they may end up choking on their medicines or food.
6. Blocked Breathing Tubes
This condition can be a result of intentional abuse or negligence. When a patient’s breathing tubes are blocked, whether on purpose or due to negligence, it can result in severe brain damage or death.
7. Burns
Burn injuries could occur due to multiple causes like boiling water, smoking, scalding drink spills, fires, etc. These causes can result in fatalities or life-changing injuries.
8. Medication Injuries
Improper treatment causes medication injuries, leading to incorrect medication or the wrong dosage for patients. This type of negligence can lead to severe risks to one’s health and may even cause death.
9. Falls
There are reports of about 100 to 200 falls in nursing homes per year. Falls are extreme and can cause severe injuries and death to patients
