Iowa Nursing Home Sued for Negligence by Estate of Resident
The family of a 58-year-old resident in an Iowa nursing home has filed a lawsuit claiming that staff members failed to treat the resident properly after she fell and fractured her spine. The lawsuit alleges that although the resident complained of pain in her back after the fall, she was not seen by a physician. Instead, the staff, who believed that the resident was faking her injury, requested narcotic pain medication.
The resident’s family was not notified of the incident until almost a month after the fall. The family then requested that the resident be transferred to a hospital where a CT scan revealed that she had sustained fractures to two of her vertebrae. The resident was later diagnosed with osteomyelitis—a bone infection—which settled in the fractures and caused her death. The lawsuit alleges that the lack of response by the facility’s staff contributed to the spread of the infection into the resident’s spinal fractures.
The lawsuit alleges that the incident occurred when the resident attempted to go to the bathroom by herself after waiting nearly an hour for a response to her call bell indicating she needed assistance.
The family seeks punitive damages along with damages for the resident’s mental and physical pain and suffering prior to her death.
After the incident was reported to the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals, the nursing home was cited and fined $10,000 for failure to meet quality of care standards.
Compliance Perspective
Failure to perform a thorough evaluation after a resident experiences a fall, not reporting the fall to the appropriate authorities and the resident’s family, and requesting narcotic pain medication without a physician examination of the resident may be considered abuse and neglect, resulting in citations and fines due to the provision of substandard quality of care in violation of state and federal regulation.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding the protocols for physician evaluation of residents after falls and prior to obtaining orders for narcotic pain medication.
- Train staff about abuse and neglect prevention, the importance of following protocols for follow-up after residents’ falls, taking residents’ complaints seriously, and the necessity of reporting those complaints in an unbiased manner to their physicians.
- Periodically audit incidents where residents have fallen to determine if protocols were followed by staff, if the residents were properly evaluated and treated, and if the incident was reported to the proper authorities and the residents’ families in a timely manner.
