How Nursing Home Resident Rights Impact a Lawsuit Defense

 Posted on December 29, 2024 in Personal Injury

Nursing homes must strike a careful balance between keeping their residents safe and respecting their residents' rights. Families with loved ones in nursing homes often believe it is the nursing home’s duty to prevent all harm to residents. However, it is both illegal and impossible for care providers to prevent one hundred percent of accidents and illnesses. People who live in nursing homes still have the right not to be restrained except for short periods of time when it is absolutely necessary to prevent imminent harm. Nursing home residents may refuse some types of care or some precautions and must be allowed to make their own decisions as much as possible. If your skilled care facility is being sued for an injury you could not prevent, an experienced DuPage County, IL long-term care defense lawyer can work to protect you from liability.

Falls and the Right to be Free From Restraint 

Nearly everyone who lives in a nursing home is a fall risk. Nursing home residents are generally very elderly and have health issues that prevent them from living independently. Most nursing home residents have issues that affect their balance or make walking difficult. While some residents are aware that they have these age-related disabilities and should not try to walk unassisted, others have cognitive issues that cause them to forget they need help getting out of bed. Although using restraints like bedrails to prevent residents from trying to stand up alone would significantly reduce the likelihood of falls, it would also be a violation of resident rights.

Many families of nursing home residents are unaware of Illinois’s strict laws regarding when nursing home residents can or cannot be restrained and what is considered a restraint. Nursing homes that have been accused of negligently allowing residents to fall successfully defend their cases by showing that they could not have prevented the fall without using unlawful restraints.

The Right to Refuse Care 

Nursing home residents cannot always be subjected to care or treatment without their consent. Even residents who are largely incapacitated retain some rights to decide whether to accept a bath or eat dinner on a particular day. It can be challenging for nursing homes caring for incapacitated adults to balance a resident’s right to refuse help with the resident’s right to receive appropriate care. If your staff was unable to perform tasks that might have prevented harm to a resident due to a need to respect the resident’s autonomy to the extent possible, you may have a defense. However, there are many complicating factors, such as the resident’s degree of incapacity and the wishes of a resident’s legal decision-maker.

Contact a DuPage County, IL Nursing Home Defense Lawyer 

SpyratosDavis LLC is experienced in defending nursing homes that have been accused of negligently causing harm to a resident. Our knowledgeable Lisle, IL nursing home defense attorneys will do all we can to help you continue protecting your resident’s rights. Contact us at 630-810-8881 for a confidential consultation.