A client who fell and broke his hip while being assisted

Breaking a hip can be debilitating in an elderly nursing home patient, even causing wrongful death. Unfortunately, when nursing home residents fall, a hip fracture is a common injury. A broken hip is one of the most severe nursing home negligence injuries suffered by residents. This injury has a debilitating effect on the patient’s health. If a nursing home resident suffers a broken hip, the injury should be reported to the state and looked into by an elder abuse and neglect attorney. 

The attorneys at Senior Justice Law Firm have successfully handled thousands of nursing home hip fracture cases on behalf of victims and their families. We are here to help you get answers. Let our decades of experience focusing solely on nursing home negligence assist you in your journey to justice.

Free Nursing Home Hip Fracture Case Consultation

If your loved one suffered a broken hip in a nursing home due to a fall, being dropped, a physical assault, or an unreported trauma, let our narrowly focused and compassionate attorneys investigate the matter. We charge no up front fees or costs and we only get paid if we make a recovery on your case.

Call us today to learn more about your legal rights following a family member’s hip fracture in a long term facility: 888-375-9998. 

Breaking a Hip in a Nursing Home is Not an Acceptable Outcome

A broken hip is life changing for an elderly patient. Breaking a hip in a nursing home fall is not a routine injury. Further, a nursing home hip fracture is not an expected outcome of any nursing home residency. A hip fracture injury inside a nursing home can ruin a patient’s life, and for this reason, the facility must do everything it can to minimize hip fracture fall injuries. Following a broken hip injury inside a nursing home, it is imperative that the family conduct an investigation as to whether the fall could have been prevented by nurses.

Preventing Broken Hips in Nursing Homes

A nursing home is legally required to implement safety measures for fall risk residents, in order to prevent injuries like broken hips. Some of these interventions include:

• Floor mats to cushion the fall of a resident out of bed or a wheelchair
• Bed alarms to alert staff the resident is getting out of bed
• Bed rails to keep the resident from getting out of bed
• Call bell within reach so the resident can ring for assistance
• Cleaning the floor of clutter and spills
• Non-slip non-skid grip socks
• Hipsters to cushion a fall and prevent hip fractures
• Frequent supervision in order to prevent unsupervised ambulation
• Toileting schedule to keep the resident comfortable and prevent the need to attempt self-toileting

Hip Fractures in Nursing Homes: How They Occur

Broken hips in long term care facilities typically happen in one of three ways.

1. The nursing home resident falls on their own;
2. The nursing home resident is dropped by nurses; or,
3. The hip fracture is non-traumatic, usually due to osteoporosis or brittle bones.

Not surprisingly, when family members learn that their love one suffered a hip fracture inside a nursing home, they ask what happened. Nursing home staff may feed the family a story; ‘well, Mom had weak bones…’ or ‘that hip was fractured due to osteoporosis.’ Rarely will a nursing home admit to its own negligence and attribute the broken hip to something its staff did wrong. However, studies confirm that the overwhelming majority of fractured hips in patients 65 years or older are due to falls or dropping incidents, not due to the natural aging process. Hips do not break themselves!

If your loved one suffered a broken hip in a nursing home or assisted living facility, be sure to investigate the true cause of the fracture. If you would like to look into what really caused your family member’s broken hip, contact our nursing home abuse law firm today for your free hip fracture case consultation at 888-375-9998.

Treatment Options for a Broken Hip

Hip fractures can be treated in a number of ways. If the patient is healthy enough, hip surgery may be an option.

The hip is a ball and socket joint, which allows the leg bone to fit snugly into the pelvis. The type of hip fracture and location of the break will dictate what kind of surgery is indicated. The various surgical options include:

• Intracapsular fracture of the hip: the surgeon may place screws that slide within a plate to stabilize the head of the femur bone.
• Intertrochanteric fracture of the hip: these kinds of fractures are remedied with the implant of a compression hip screw or intramedullary nail. These implants are screwed into the outer bone, affixed through a plate into the neck and head of the hip.
• Subtrochanteric fracture of the hip: this type of break in the hip can be controlled with placement of a intramedullary nail and a screw into the neck and head of the femur. Multiple support screws may be placed around the main nail to prevent the anatomy from moving around. Your surgeon may also place a locking plate to control movement of the area.

Hip Fracture Damages

Typically, an elderly nursing home resident who suffers a broken hip will face a lengthy recovery period after surgery. This usually includes 2-7 days post-op in the hospital, and then discharge to a skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation.

The patient will likely undergo in-house and out-patient physical therapy, which is quite painful. CMS estimates the cost of a generalized hip surgery and the corresponding rehabilitation post-operatively is more than $50,000. This figure does not account for the largest damage to the patient; their pain and suffering associated with the preventable injury.

Broken hips are the most common cause if death in elderly fall victims.

Broken Hip in a Nursing Home: Should I File a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit?

Hip fractures in nursing homes are not supposed to occur. A broken hip can serve as a death sentence for this vulnerable patient population. At the very least, falling and breaking a hip robs the fall victim of their independence and ability to walk, which usually increases confusion, dementia and depression.

If you know that the broken hip was due to a patient fall, investigate how your family member fell. Look into what (if anything) the nursing home was doing to prevent falls in your loved one. Speak with one of our nursing home broken hip attorneys on how best to determine the cause of the fall and how it could have been prevented. Our broken hip lawyers will investigate the circumstances surrounding the broken hip for no upfront fees or costs. If the hip fracture could have been prevented, we will advise you of the process on bringing a broken hip lawsuit against the negligent nursing home, if you are interested in being compensated for the injury.

Unexplained Broken Hips in Nursing Homes

If the hip fracture is unexplained, make sure to get to the bottom of what really happened. Nursing homes and ALF’s are hesitant to report fractures as trauma-induced. If possible, it benefits the facility to chalk a broken hip up to osteoporosis or the aging process. Do not accept the facility’s word on the cause of the broken hip. Always investigate what happened.

What is a Broken Hip Case Against a Nursing Home Worth in Terms of Settlement?

The dollar amount of your broken hip settlement will depend on the damages of your specific case. Your damages will be determined by the victim’s age, the medical bills associated with the hip fracture, whether the hip fracture caused an ongoing injury or wrongful death, etc.

Questions on Nursing Home Broken Hip Cases? Our Nursing Home Hip Fracture Attorneys are Here to Help

Our nursing home neglect law firm is happy to discuss your options with you, in a free consultation. Call us now at 1-888-375-9998 or fill out the free case evaluator below.