Knoxville Nursing Home Injury Attorney
According to the Centers for Disease Control, nursing homes provide care to roughly 1.3 million residents. Alarmingly, thousands of residents will eventually be admitted to the hospital each year with a serious illness or injury. Sometimes, these injuries have an innocent explanation. But in other cases, some hazard or danger in the nursing home is to blame.
At Atkins Brezina, PLLC, we have sued countless nursing homes when abusive staff or negligent conditions lead to injury. Contact our Knoxville nursing home injury attorney today to learn about whether you or a loved one has a claim for compensation.
Common Nursing Home Injuries
Residents in Knoxville nursing homes can suffer any of the following in an attack or accident:
- Fall injuries. Falls are surprisingly common in nursing homes. Residents can suffer hip fractures, broken ribs, and head injuries. According to one study, hip injuries made up roughly 40% of all hospital admissions.
- Traumatic brain injuries. If residents hit their head, they can suffer a TBI and experience impaired movement, coordination, memory, or communication skills.
- Cuts or lacerations. A resident might be attacked and cut with a knife or other sharp object. Dangerous bed frames could also cut a resident. Cuts must be cleaned so they do not become infected.
- A resident can be burned by hot food or liquids which spill on them. Residents often need help eating, but a negligent nursing home might be stretched too thin to assign staff to help.
- Also called pressure ulcers, bedsores form when a resident puts pressure for too much time on a body part. The ulcer can affect underlying tissue and become infected. One study from the CDC found that 11% of nursing home residents suffered from bedsores.
- Malnutrition or dehydration. A resident could be on the verge of death if not fed adequate amounts of healthy food and clean water.
Who is to Blame for Nursing Home Injuries?
Most concerned family members are not around when a loved one is injured, so there is always a common question: “Who is to blame for this injury?”
As an initial matter, nursing home residents are older and frailer than the general population. Sometimes, they simply become sick or are injured through no one else’s fault. A resident might pass out while getting up from the toilet and strike her head on the floor—but no one is really to blame for this.
However, it’s a convenient excuse to blame elderly residents for their injuries. The sadder reality is that many injuries are caused by abusive or negligent staff, or by a nursing home which maintains a lax and dangerous environment.
Many residents are injured by physical or sexual assault, emotional terrorism, the withholding of food or water, or by inadequate supervision. In these situations, a resident can hold the nursing home and/or its employees legally liable for their injuries.
Atkins Brezina, PLLC Can Help
Untangling who is at fault for a loved one’s injury is difficult work. Let us assist you. Michael Brezina has years of experience in this field and will do everything necessary to secure your loved one’s safety. Call our law firm today to schedule a consultation.
