These are the most common allegations that nursing expert witnesses and plaintiff and defense attorneys should consider. The analysis of nursing liability after a patient fall addresses whether there was a deviation from the standard of care. Nursing liability surrounding a patient fall may fit into one or more of these allegations:
- Failure to identify the patient as being at risk for falls.
- Failure to periodically re-evaluate the patient’s risk for falls.
- Failure to reassign a new risk for falls following a fall.
- Failure to identify an individualized plan of care for a patient at risk for falls.
- Failure to instruct the patient to call for help, if able, when ambulating.
- Failure to provide the appropriate degree of monitoring for a patient at risk for falls.
- Failure to supply the appropriate amount of assistance when ambulating or transferring a patient.
- Failure to use available interventions such as safety straps in the OR, lifting systems, floor mats, one to one sitter, bed alarms, lockable windows, and Wanderguards.
- Failure to detect signs of injury after a patient has fallen.
- Failure to notify a physician (and in some settings, the family and regulatory agencies) of the fall.
- Failure to recognize and report signs of deterioration after a patient falls.
- Concealing evidence of a patient falling.
From Nursing Malpractice, Fourth Edition.
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