People move into nursing homes for a reason - whether they are advanced in age and/or in illness, they can no longer safely take care of themselves and anyone they may live with is simply not able to provide them with the care that they need. It is obviously not a happy day for someone when he or she moves into an assisted living facility, but those who take this step have every right to expect that they will be given the proper level of supervision to the point where they are kept safe.
Unfortunately, that is not always what happens, and one of the biggest and perhaps most overlooked dangers relating to living in nursing homes are slip and fall accidents. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC, compiles statistics that relate to illnesses and injuries in the United States, and that data collection includes slip and fall accidents in nursing homes. Below are 10 surprising facts regarding these specific incidents.
- Exploding Population - The first noteworthy statistic regarding slip and fall accidents in nursing homes is that it could happen more often in the future. The number of nursing home residents in the United States will nearly double by 2030.
- Imbalanced Ratio - Approximately 5 percent of adults who are at least 65 years old live in nursing homes, but they account for 20 percent of the deaths of older Americans resulting from slip and fall accidents.
- More Falls Than Beds - Every year, nursing homes with an average of 100 beds report anywhere between 100 and 200 slip and fall accidents.
- Twice As Dangerous - Between 50 and 75 percent of nursing home residents slip and fall every year, which is twice the rate of older adults living in other places.
- More Than Once - The average nursing home resident falls 2.6 times every year.
- Not Walking - More than one-third of nursing home residents injured in slip and fall accidents were unable to walk when the incident occurred.
- Fatalities - Approximately 1,800 nursing home residents are killed every year in slip and fall accidents.
- Injury Rate - Between 10 and 20 percent of slip and fall accidents in nursing homes result in what are described as serious injuries.
- Patient Problems - Nearly one-fourth of nursing home residents who fall every year do so because they have physical problems that make walking unsafe.
- Environmental Hazards - Hazards such as wet floors or poor lighting cause between 16 and 27 percent of slip and fall accidents in nursing homes every year.
Clearly, these are troubling facts and they indicate that no one who moves into a nursing home should simply assume that he or she will receive the proper level of care. If you or someone you love has been injured in a slip and fall accident in an assisted living facility, contact the Las Vegas lawyers at High Stakes Injury Law to schedule a free initial consultation.