Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer

Serving West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Lake Worth and the Port St. Lucie area

The Duties of a Nursing Home

The operator of a nursing home has a duty to protect its residents from any predictable consequences of each resident’s mental or physical impairments. This means they must take reasonable precautions to protect residents who cannot protect themselves. The home must also use reasonable care to avoid harming residents. “Reasonable” is defined according to the resident’s mental and physical condition.

Click here for more information on nursing home abuse.

Although there is no requirement that the nursing home provide a 1:1 nurse:resident ratio or 24-hour resident monitoring, it still must devise an appropriate standard of care for each resident, based on their physical and mental conditions. If a given resident is known to potentially encounter a particular danger because of his or her health condition, the nursing home must take reasonable precautions to prevent such foreseeable harm to that resident.

Each nursing home resident has a contract with the nursing home. The text of a resident’s contract will be relevant in any legal proceeding which may be pursued.

Federal Regulations

The federal government classifies nursing homes into four categories according to how much nursing care they provide.

  1. Adult boarding facilities
  2. Residential care facilities
  3. Intermediate care facilities
  4. Skilled nursing facilities

The intermediate care and skilled nursing facilities are regulated by the federal government, especially in regard to Medicare and Medicaid. Following federal guidelines, each facility must create and implement written policies and procedures that prohibit neglect, abuse or mistreatment of its residents. Any violation of these policies must be immediately reported to the facility’s administrator, and the facility must be able to show that all such alleged violations are fully investigated. Further, the facility must:

  • Prevent any further abuse during the investigation.
  • Report investigation results to the administrator (or another official) within five working days of the alleged violation.
  • Take appropriate action to correct the situation if the alleged violation is verified.

Special Knowledge

If a nursing home has particular knowledge about a given resident and does not respond appropriately to it, it can be found liable for the consequences. An example would be if the home knows that a resident has previously behaved violently. If that resident later attacks another resident, the home can be held liable for their failure to protect the other residents or failure to adequately supervise the violent resident.

Examples of liability for failing to respond appropriately to special knowledge

  • The nursing home knew that a resident had dizzy spells and was found liable for injury resulting from a fall.
  • The home knew a resident smoked and had the use of only one hand. It was found liable when the resident’s clothing caught fire, and the resident died.
  • The home knew a resident had recently had cataract surgery and was held liable when that resident fell down a stairway.
  • The home knew that a resident suffered from senile psychosis and cerebral arteriosclerosis, and was held liable when that resident fell (or leaped) from a window and injured himself.

The Results of Ongoing Neglect

Specific incidents are not always the cause of resident injuries. Ongoing nursing home negligence is more often the cause. Examples of such neglect are:

  • Malnutrition
  • Dehydration
  • Bedsores (pressure sores)

This type of neglect is actionable, and the nursing home may be found to have violated its duty of care. For example, it may not have maintained accepted medical practices for skin care, such as regularly turning a bedridden resident to prevent bedsores.

Maintaining the Premises

Nursing homes must keep the premises reasonably safe. Residents have a right to expect that hallways and stairs, for example, will be well-maintained. When visitors arrive, they are regarded as invitees, which means the home owes them a duty of care for their safety. The home should remove any known dangers on the premises or warn visitors about them.

Equipment Selection and Maintenance

Nursing home residents have a right to expect safe equipment, such as wheelchairs, examination tables, lamps, and beds. Homes have been found liable for defects in equipment.

Some defense considerations

Defense attorneys in nursing home cases can theoretically use defenses that are available in other negligence cases. An example would be comparative negligence on the part of the resident. But this might be disallowed by the court because nursing home residents have put themselves in that environment specifically for protection against their medical conditions.

A defense attorney might also try to muddy the causation issue, claiming that the resident’s pre-existing health condition contributed to the injury that the prosecuting attorney is laying at the feet of the nursing home.

Your free consultation

At the Law Offices of Craig Goldenfarb, we offer you a free initial consultation. We will listen and start to assess your situation or that of your loved one. If we determine that you have a valid claim, our nursing home negligence lawyer will start to gather more information and build you a strong case. Please call or email us today. Our office serves the entire Southern Florida area.

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West Palm Beach, Florida, nursing home negligence lawyer Craig Goldenfarb represents clients throughout South Florida, including the cities of Palm Springs, Stuart, and Fort Pierce, and residents of Palm Beach County, Martin County, and St. Lucie County. Our office in West Palm Beach, Florida, is located a quarter mile west of I-95 on Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., behind Chick-Fil-A in the Legacy Bank Building.

Practice Areas

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OFFICE LOCATION: 2090 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. Suite 402
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
1-800-GOLD-LAW
Call Toll Free 1-800-GOLD-LAW (465-3529)
Nursing Home Abuse Attorney West Palm Beach

The reader’s understanding of the information on this website about personal injury law does not constitute a formal legal relationship with the Law Offices of Craig Goldenfarb, P.A.  Please do not assume this content to be formal legal advice.  If you would like to know if you have a valid personal injury case, please contact the West Palm Beach, Florida nursing home negligence lawyer at the Law Offices of Craig Goldenfarb, P.A. today for a complimentary consultation regarding personal injury law in Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Port St. Lucie and Palm Beach County, Florida.
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