The primary goal of the paper is to describe the fall cases due to the nurse’s inability to protect the client. In this case, two cases are provided to describe this phenomenon. In the book Nursing Home Litigation: Investigation and Case Preparation by Iyer, the author claims that the fall problem related to the fall and the inability of the personnel react rapidly and comply with their responsibilities has a tendency to exist in the nursing homes (Iyer, 2006). Nonetheless, the book is filled with law cases, which actively discuss falls and the usage of restraints in hospitals. One of them is the case when the “woman fell from a wheelchair was being pushed by a certified nursing assistant” in Florida (Iyer, 2006, p. 281). In this case, the nurse was not able to protect the client from the fall, as she violated the rules and safety regulations of the hospital. She failed to provide a safe environment to the patient and was not able to control the wheelchair effectively. In this scenario, the woman broke her legs in several places and had to be hospitalized in the hospital for a month (Iyer, 2006). Nonetheless, the fall has a dramatic impact on the woman’s life, as she was not able to recover from the severe injuries and died in the hospital (Iyer, 2006). Moreover, the patient suffered from constant physical abuse and neglect while her recovery in the hospital. In this instance, the nurse assistant was not able to follow the rules of the hospitals. In the end, this case underlines that the careless actions of nurses might result in the death of the patients, and the risks related to falls have to be carefully assessed and controlled.
Additionally, sometimes the patients tend to fall due to the nurses’ inability to respond on time, as the nurse fails to protect the client’s safety due to carelessness. One of the cruel examples occurred in Saint Stephen’s Nursing Home, as the 89-years-old woman fell and was left for 20 hours without any medical assistance (McLelland, 2015). In this instance, the injuries were dramatic, as the relatives and her family members had trouble while trying to recognize their great-grandmother (McLelland, 2015). Moreover, this story had a rapid reflection and appearance in the press and social media, as the relatives were not able to control their emotions concerning the cruelty and the violation of human rights and safety principles. In this instance, the careless actions of the nurses contributed to the development of the negative consequences such as health problems of the client. It could be said that the adverse outcomes and injuries could have been avoided if the medical personnel was able to respond rapidly to the situation and conduct a sufficient risk assessment. In this case, the violation of the safety regulations resulted in the inability of the medical personnel and nurses to keep the situation under control. The analysis and description of both cases contribute to the understanding that the nursing safety and fall risk assessment have to be carefully taken into account while instructing the personnel and the lack of instructions might lead to negative consequences for the nurses and patients. In the end, the failure to comply with the safety regulations has a negative influence on the reputation of the hospital.
References
Iyer, P. (2006). Nursing home litigation: Investigation and case preparation. Tucson, AZ: Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company, Inc.
McLelland, E. (2015, Sept. 10). Great-grand mother, 89, was left in agony after care home staff ‘waited 20 hours to call doctors’ when a fell left her with injuries so bad her relatives didn’t recognise her. The Daily Mail. Web.