Nursing home accidents can lead to facial injuries
Accidents at nursing homes can cause a wide range of injuries for residents. This includes facial injuries. Such injuries can get very serious. Unfortunately, there are a fair number of U.S. nursing home residents who end up suffering significant facial injuries. This can be seen in a study from last year.
The study looked at nationwide emergency department data covering 2011 to 2015. From this review, it determined that, during this period, 109,795 nursing home residents over 60 suffered facial injuries that required emergency room care.
Over half of such injuries (57 percent) involved a nursing home resident falling and hitting a structure/object. Another common injury cause were accidents involving getting in and out of bed.
Over 44 percent of these facial injuries were skin tears or deep cuts. This was a higher percentage than any other type of injury. Other common injuries to the face included bruises and bone fractures.
Injuries to the face can have major implications for nursing home residents. They can expose residents to:
- Great pain
- Breathing problems
- Difficulty swallowing
- Vision problems
- Hearing problems
So, it is very important for nursing homes to take measures to protect their residents from these impactful injuries. This includes fall prevention steps and making sure residents are properly supervised.
When a nursing home resident suffers a facial injury, an important issue is what contributed to the accident. Sometimes, such accidents come about due to nursing homes and their staff acting negligently, such as not taking proper precautions. Legal action for compensation can be an option when nursing home negligence causes injuries. Personal injury lawyers can help families of injured nursing home residents investigate cause and other important issues when it comes to nursing home accidents.
