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Residents Need Proper Assistance and Supervision to Avoid Assisted Living Falls
Residents Need Proper Assistance and Supervision to Avoid Assisted Living FallsAssisted Living Falls

Minnesota Assisted Living Falls

Injuries due to falls in nursing home and assisted living falls are common some due to obvious neglect other the cause is not as clear.   The underlying cause of many accidents is a delay in response from the time the resident needed some assistance and a response.   Or a failure to do toileting or wellness checks or some other necessary service as providing medications.

Information on Assisted Living Falls

Assisted living facilities are defined by statute and are in summary apartments for seniors where additional minimum services are available for purchase by contract.  Each resident has a different contract based on their individual needs.

According to Minnesota Statute 144G.03, Subd. 2, assisted living shall be provided or made available only to individuals residing in a registered housing with services establishment. Except as expressly stated in this chapter, a person or entity offering assisted living may define the available services and may offer assisted living to all or some of the residents of a housing with services establishment. The services that comprise assisted living may be provided or made available directly by a housing with services establishment or by persons or entities with which the housing with services establishment has made arrangements.

(b) A person or entity entitled to use the phrase “assisted living,” according to section 144G.02, subdivision 1, shall do so only with respect to a housing with services establishment, or a service, service package, or program available within a housing with services establishment that, at a minimum:

(1) provides or makes available health-related services under a home care license. At a minimum, health-related services must include:

(i) assistance with self-administration of medication, medication management, or medication administration as defined in section 144A.43; and

(ii) assistance with at least three of the following seven activities of daily living: bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, transferring, continence care, and toileting.

All health-related services shall be provided in a manner that complies with applicable home care licensure requirements in chapter 144A and sections 148.171 to 148.285;

(2) provides necessary assessments of the physical and cognitive needs of assisted living clients by a registered nurse, as required by applicable home care licensure requirements in chapter 144A and sections 148.171 to 148.285;

(3) has and maintains a system for delegation of health care activities to unlicensed personnel by a registered nurse, including supervision and evaluation of the delegated activities as required by applicable home care licensure requirements in chapter 144A and sections 148.171 to 148.285;

(4) provides staff access to an on-call registered nurse 24 hours per day, seven days per week;

(5) has and maintains a system to check on each assisted living client at least daily;

(6) provides a means for assisted living clients to request assistance for health and safety needs 24 hours per day, seven days per week, from the establishment or a person or entity with which the establishment has made arrangements;

(7) has a person or persons available 24 hours per day, seven days per week, who is responsible for responding to the requests of assisted living clients for assistance with health or safety needs, who shall be:

(i) awake;

(ii) located in the same building, in an attached building, or on a contiguous campus with the housing with services establishment in order to respond within a reasonable amount of time;

(iii) capable of communicating with assisted living clients;

(iv) capable of recognizing the need for assistance;

(v) capable of providing either the assistance required or summoning the appropriate assistance; and

(vi) capable of following directions;

(8) offers to provide or make available at least the following supportive services to assisted living clients:

(i) two meals per day;

(ii) weekly housekeeping;

(iii) weekly laundry service;

(iv) upon the request of the client, reasonable assistance with arranging for transportation to medical and social services appointments, and the name of or other identifying information about the person or persons responsible for providing this assistance;

(v) upon the request of the client, reasonable assistance with accessing community resources and social services available in the community, and the name of or other identifying information about the person or persons responsible for providing this assistance; and

(vi) periodic opportunities for socialization; and

(9) makes available to all prospective and current assisted living clients information consistent with the uniform format and the required components adopted by the commissioner under section 144G.06. This information must be made available beginning no later than six months after the commissioner makes the uniform format and required components available to providers according to section 144G.06.

See the State of Minnesota Assisted Living Guide

Types of Assisted Living Falls

There are many types of falls which occur in assisted living facilities including, falls in the bathroom due to loss of balance or slipping on wet surfaces such as in the shower, falls during transfers from wheelchairs or from Mechanical Patient Lift, Falls from bed, when using a walker or cane and others.  The injuries related to these often preventable falls include head injuries, subdural hematomas, Hip Fracture, pelvis, and Hip Fracture to name of few.  The injuries can be very serious and the combination of the injuries and the disabilities which result can lead to untimely death.

Assisted Living Falls Reporting

The facility is mandated to report serious falls to the Minnesota Commissioner of Health under Minnesota Statute 144.7065, Subd 5.(7) patient death or serious injury associated with a fall while being cared for in a facility.

In addition to the reporting requirements for the facility you should also report any falls with injury to the Minnesota Department of Health Office of Health Facility Complaint, OHFC.  See the attached for more information about reporting elder abuse and neglect.

Assisted Living Falls Neglect Attorney

If you have questions about fall injuries in a assisted living facility or other elder provider or nursing home or other elder abuse and neglect issues contact Kenneth LaBore for a free consultation.  There is no fee unless there is a verdict or settlement offer from the wrongdoer.  Mr. LaBore can be reached directly at 612-743-9048 or toll free at 1-888-452-6589 or by email at KLaBore@MNnursinghomeneglect.com.

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