Broken Bones Among the Elderly

For an elderly person, a broken bone can lead to many other physical and mental health issues. Different types of nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect can cause broken bones in nursing homes.

As lawyers who are also doctors, the experienced nursing home abuse attorneys at Cullan & Cullan in Phoenix, Arizona want to educate families about the dangers of broken bones in a nursing home environment.

For elders who have suffered a broken bone, healing and returning to life as normal can be extremely difficult. Poor physical health and degenerative diseases like osteoporosis can make healing the bone itself very difficult. In addition to this, the lack of mobility and the need to ask others for even more help with daily activities can lead to severe depression and a sense of purposelessness.

Nursing homes are supposed to provide care for elders, and when that care isn’t provided, broken bones often result.

Some of the most common causes of broken bones in nursing homes include:

• Poor Equipment – Beds without rails or faulty walkers and wheelchairs can cause many different types of broken bones.
• Poor Facilities – This may be common in older nursing homes, but walkways and stairs must be well illuminated and provide adequate handrails for nursing home residents; when they don’t, falls can ensue.
• Neglect – Nursing home staff can sometimes ignore cries for help or requests to use the bathroom by residents. After a long enough period of time, an elderly person may attempt to walk to the bathroom unassisted and fall.
• Overmedication – While many medications and prescriptions are necessary for elderly people, doctors can sometimes over-prescribe medicines, causing poor balance and lack of coordination, leading to falls.
• Understaffing - Facilities in need of more staff members may abound with neglect and abuse.

For the elderly, it may not take much of an impact to cause a broken bone, and the smallest slip or fall can have serious consequences.

If you believe that your loved one has suffered a broken bone in their nursing home as a result of abuse or neglect, we may be able to help you. Our experienced nursing home abuse attorneys who are also doctors will review medical histories and help determine who is at fault for the broken bone.

Please contact Cullan & Cullan today to schedule your free initial consultation by calling (602) 786-8860.