Fall Prevention: Guidance on Nursing Home Falls and Legal Liability

Course overview

Falls are a leading cause of injury in nursing homes. Because of this, nursing homes, and especially nurses who have direct care responsibilities, have a duty to help protect residents from falling. However, any failure to do this, can make the facility and nursing staff responsible for injuries caused by falling. Not every resident fall is preventable, and not every injurious fall will lead to a lawsuit. But if the nursing staff fails to take reasonable steps to prevent falls from occurring, that can lead to negligence claims. Resident falls are presently responsible for a large number of lawsuits against nursing homes. The purpose of this course is to provide facilities and nursing staff with guidance on the best ways to prevent resident falls, while at the same time, avoiding legal liability.