Some nursing homes and assisted living facilities cite “The Right to Fall” as a “law” that allows seniors to suffer traumatic falls. However, this concept is misleading.
While it is commendable to promote independence in long term care facilities, there is no “Right to Fall Law” that discharges a nursing home of its duty to prevent residents from falling.
Our patient fall attorneys explain why falls must be prevented, why there is no “Right to Fall Law”, and why facility falls can be so deadly in this vulnerable patient population.
There is No ‘Right to Fall’ Law in Nursing Homes or ALF’s
There is no legislation that states it is a resident’s right to suffer falls. There is no ‘right to fall’ law in any state.
In fact, federal and state regulations require a healthcare facility to utilize fall preventative measures, and to come up with a fall-prevention plan that is narrowly tailored for the individual resident.
There is no “Right to Fall” law that absolves a nursing home of liability when it allows a resident to suffer a preventable fall. Quite the opposite actually. Every nursing home regulation requires facilities to stop preventable falls.
How is Fall Risk Assessed? How Are Facility Falls Prevented?
For a deep dive on fall risk diagnosis and prevention techniques, visit our page on nursing home falls.
However, a quick overview of nursing home fall assessment and prevention is relevant to this false ‘right to fall’ concept.
How Nursing Homes Assess Fall Risk
Federal law requires every single incoming nursing home resident must be assessed for fall risk. This is usually accomplished using the Morse Fall Risk Scale.
To determine fall risk, nursing home staff scores each resident. To do this, the staff must analyze prior medical records and do an in person assessment of the resident. A resident’s fall risk factors are assessed, including their vision, cognitive status, if they had prior falls, and if they are on medication.
If a resident is assessed as ‘at risk for falls’, the law requires that the nursing home care plan to prevent falls.
How Nursing Homes Prevent Falls in the Facility
A nursing home has many options to prevent falls, or at least mitigate damages. Some include:
- Bed and chair alarms that beep when a high risk resident gets up
- A lowered bed, to prevent injuries if they roll out of bed at night
- Floor mats, to prevent injuries if they fall from the bed or a wheelchair
- A regular toileting schedule, to empty a resident’s bladder and remove the urge to get up at night
- Frequent 15 minute checks
- Hands on assist during transfers
- Removing clutter and fall risk hazards
Nursing homes have these tools readily available in their tool kit. If a resident is assessed as a fall risk, and a nursing home fails to implement reasonable fall precautions, this is a form of nursing home negligence.
If a resident then falls and suffers serious injury, the nursing home may be legally liable for the damages caused.
Conclusion – ‘Right to Fall Law’ is a Sham
There is no law that allows a nursing home to shirk its responsibility and ignore a resident’s fall risk. The “Right to Fall Law” is a talking point created by the nursing home industry lobby, created to avoid responsibility for defunding facilities, understaffing nursing homes, and ignoring safety to make an extra buck.
If your loved one suffered a fall resulting in injury or death inside a healthcare facility, contact Senior Justice Law Firm today. Our law firm focuses on cases involving elderly residents of long term care facilities, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities. About half of our caseload specifically deals with facility fall related injury. This is all that we do.
Submit your case facts below, live chat with our office now, or call us at 888-375-9998. The consultation is free and we only get paid if we make a recovery on your case. Do not let the facility get away with neglecting your loved one. There is no “Right to Fall Law” which exculpates a nursing home from liability when they ignore demented residents and allow them to fall and hurt themselves.
