When an elderly woman sought help for stroke symptoms in her local emergency room, she was considered at high-risk for falling and nurses raised her two bed rails and turned on a bed alarm – but their two-part system failed, as reported by the Naples News.
A third part, their attention to their patient, is at the crux of a wrongful death lawsuit filed against NCH Downtown Naples Hospital.
At some time during the night, the woman, B.M., 76, fell from her bed – no alarm was allegedly heard – and broke her nose and teeth. A nurse found her, presumably hours later, face down in a pool of her own blood.
She succumbed to her injuries and died the next day.
The incident occurred in March of 2009.
Attorney Jim O’Leary is representing B.M.’s son, J.M.
On May 17, in Collier Circuit Court, O’Leary told jurors, “This is a case about a recovering stroke patient and a hospital that failed to keep her safe in her bed.” Jurors are to decide if the hospital, and any of their nurses, breached a standard of care and were negligent.
The Center for Disease Control states that falls are the leading cause of accidental deaths for the elderly.
Patients falling from beds at NCH are being cited in one other lawsuit.
A 91 year-old patient, that was staying overnight at the hospital as she had fallen at home and had a problem with her balance, was found on the floor of her room with a broken hip. This incident also occurred in 2009.
The patient died two weeks after.
O’Leary explained to jurors that his client’s mother was experiencing shortness of breath following the change of a battery in her pacemaker. On the morning of March 13, 2009, she entered the emergency room for medical attention and, once there, suffered a stroke.
While showing photographs of B.M. after the fall O’Leary said, “At 11 p.m., (B.M.) is found on the floor in a pool of blood, face down with broken teeth.” He further contended that nurses should have put up three bed rails instead of two.
Kevin Crews, the Naples-based attorney representing the hospital said, “This was a massive stroke ... that affected two-thirds of her brain. It’s the stroke that killed her. Simply because a patient falls doesn’t mean somebody is negligent. Even…with all the appropriate fall precautions in place, falls still happen. This case is a perfect example of that.”
One registered nurse, T.E., testified that two rails were up on the bed and that when she told B.M. not to get out of bed, she nodded to her, signaling that she had heard and understood the nurse’s instructions.
T.E. was also the nurse that discovered B.M. on the floor. She testified, “There was a pool of blood in front of her with what appeared to be teeth fragments...”
C.S., a registered nurse certified in gerontology and licensed in risk management, testified as an expert witness. C.S. said, “I believe she rolled out of bed...Close to five hours after the fall, (nurses) started using three side rails. ... At any level the alarm was set, it should have sounded.”
Contact a personal injury lawyer from our directory if you suspect, or have proof of, a wrongful death. Monetary compensation is often awarded for the pain and suffering that a loved one has endured.