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logicalthinker · Mar 17, 2009, 06:58 PM

The night before last my grandmother fell and broke her hip. My mother has power of attorney and a health care proxy for her (not sure if this is relevant or not). The nursing home called my mother the following morning at 8:15 to tell her that she had fallen the night before and was put back in bed. They were sending her to the hospital because she was unable to move. My mother was present when my grandmother had x-rays done, and was told by the technician that it was an obvious hip fracture because of the angle my grandmothers foot was at, and that the leg with the injured him was significantly shorter than the other. The x-rays were being done to confirm what was already obvious. Here is my issue/question. The nursing home calls my mother for everything regarding my grandmother. They have called to tell her she is running a fever. Why would they wait until the following morning to call her regarding a fall? And why wasn't she seen by a doctor when this fall occurred? They were also unable to verify how long she had been down when they found her, or why she was up and walking without her walker. We are unable to verify this information with my grandmother because she has dimentia and alzheimers. Is this considered neglect by law?

BIGBOPPER · Mar 17, 2009, 07:45 PM

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother.
Is there elderly services in your area? You can start with them, also try calling an attorney that specializes in health/elderly issues and see if you have a case against the nursing home. In my opinion, this is not right, and somebody needs to explain the behavior of the staff.
I think that the elderly services might have experience with this, and can steer you in the right direction. If not, than an attorney can take steps on your and your mother's behalf to make sure your grandmother is not mis-treated again.

logicalthinker · Mar 17, 2009, 08:16 PM

Thanks. She's been at this nursing home for over 3 years and we've always been happy with her care. I'm really distraught over the fact that it's unknown how long she was on the floor, and the fact that they didn't seek immediate medical attention when she fell. I'm not a sue-happy person, but I think that a company such as this is more likely to look into the situation and fix the problem if there is a threat of a law suit and not just a complaint to the head nurse

Sunflowers · Mar 17, 2009, 08:29 PM

Sounds to me like you should contact an attorney. Incident reports and nurses notes are required and should provide the answers to the questionable actions taken. IMO an ambulance should have been called the moment she was discovered on the floor, but it sounds like an attempted cover-up took place instead. I hope your grandmother recovers.

logicalthinker · Mar 17, 2009, 08:34 PM

Thank you so much! She is recovering in the hospital quite well. My mother has been up there pretty much all day and night since she got there. Because she has the dimentia/alzheimers my mom said it's just like having a small child in the hospital and she feels bad leaving her there. I figured since I've become acquainted with this website I would look into this and pass the info along to her.

BIGBOPPER · Mar 18, 2009, 12:25 AM

Originally Posted by logicalthinker

I'm not a sue-happy person, but I think that a company such as this is more likely to look into the situation and fix the problem if there is a threat of a law suit and not just a complaint to the head nurse

I'm not either, but I agree with Sunflowers in that an attorney would put pressure on the home to explain their actions. I still would go to any elderly services near you, since maybe they know who to get in touch with

JudyKayTee · Mar 18, 2009, 06:11 AM

Contact an Attorney NOW before records get changed. A good liability Attorney or elder care Attorney will get the answers for you.

The Attorney will gather information to determine whether the nursing home acted in a prudent fashion - or whether they didn't realize there was a problem, whether they SHOULD have realized there was a problem. Everything is not always negligence and there are questions to be answered as well as evaluating pain and suffering.

I have heard horror stories that ended up not being cases of negligence.

Contact an Attorney NOW.

logicalthinker · Mar 18, 2009, 01:26 PM

Thanks for all the help. I passed all this information along to my mother.