My father is 84 years old
& fell at night in the ALF. The skin on his arm is delicate & broke open (lots of blood) but he said he did not hit his head.
No one from the ALF called me. The first time I heard about it was today when I picked him up for lunch. The manager said “just so you know the doctor ordered a bandage on his arm because his skin broke open. They are coming again next week.”
When I spoke to my dad he told me he fell & his arm hit the floor & started bleeding.
When I went back & spoke to the manager she said “Yes…I’m sorry. I met with the staff & told them they have to call the family no matter what. It seems like we’re hiding something if not.”
They called his doctor the next day but I am just shocked & very upset. This ALF has been great up until now.
What should I do? Aren’t they required to notify the family if something like this happens? What should be the next steps? My mother & grandmother both died soon after a fall so I’m very worried. Thank you for any & all help!
My mother fell 95x while living in AL and Memory Care. I had PTSD from hearing the phone ring informing me mom fell but was fine, etc. I prayed they'd STOP calling me, to be honest, so I could stop jumping thru my skin every time the phone rang.
Regardless of what happened with your mother and grandmother, falls happen with elders all the time. Your father will live until his slot of time is up and God calls him home. And nothing you say or "do" will change that outcome.
They know now to inform you no matter what. I guarantee you'll be receiving endless calls if your dad even brushes up against a wall, because that thin skin tears and bleeds even if you look at someone cross-eyed. My dad had a similar problem, and yes, he brushed against a wall without even realizing it and five minutes later looked like an axe murderer had had a go at him. He did not, however, lose a ton of blood, and it wasn't a crisis.
Try to keep your head about you. If you get this wound up over a minor issue, you'll never be able to handle a true crisis. Trust the AL people.
On the other side of the coin, when my Mom was living in skilled nursing facility as she was a major fall risk, could no longer stand/walk, I would be getting numerous calls all day long, even in the middle of the night, and wee hours of morning.
Once the phone rang during sleep, I couldn't get back to sleep. Believe me, the phone ringing was very exhausting. I asked that only serious falls be transferred to me, but the facility rules were calls for every fall. Even if my Mom had rolled off the lowered bed unto a safety mat.
Therefore, if you want every fall, no matter how minor, be forwarded to your attention, be ready.
This could be just one of those things. New aide who has no idea what to do and and no one around to ask. You have talked to the manager and he has brought it to his staffs attention. The aide may not have thought it was bad enough to call u and wake u up. They are called skin tears and it won't be the first time Dad will get them. They are very hard to close up. I have tried. DD brought me strips to use on my Mom.
This is assisted living, not a nursing home.
And of course, staff reported both falls to family when they were discovered.
I am really sick of some of the know-it-all attitudes here! Users correcting other users, the challenging of who is right!
Maybe it is the full moon?
Relax and breathe. It sounds like you are assuming that staff knew of the fall immediately which would not be typical in assisted living. And it was during the night. Maybe dad did not see the point of calling you because it was too late?
Yes
Nursing homes are legally obligated to take reasonable steps to inform the person identified as the resident’s contact in the nursing home admission contract or the resident’s responsible person when they are injured or have other changes in their physical or mental status.
Residential care facilities are also required to notify the residents responsible person or contact.
It is a huge red flag when a nursing home fails to inform family members and representatives regarding injuries or other changes in status. If you are concerned, you may contact my office for a free case evaluation.
As you can see below, California and Federal Law are very clear on this point.
Nursing Home – California Health & Safety Code § 1795(a)
Nursing homes are required to make reasonable efforts to notify you if your family member or loved one is injured. Ca. Health and Safety Code §1795(a).
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a skilled nursing facility as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 1250 , any intermediate care facility, as defined in subdivision (d) , (e) , (g) , and (h) of Section 1250 , a congregate living facility, as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 1250 , or a hospice facility, as defined in subdivision (n) of Section 1250, shall make reasonable efforts to contact the person named in the resident’s admission agreement as the resident’s contact person, or the resident’s responsible person, within 24 hours after a significant change in the resident’s health or mental status.
Nursing Home – Federal Code of Regulations – 42 CFR 483.10
Federal law also requires notification. See, Residents Rights under 42 CFR 483.10 et seq."
So the above is from the FikesLaw web page.
It appears that it is necessary both under California (my own state) and federal law to notify the family member who is listed as the "responsible party" in the patient's admission papers. Your admin already apologized. If you have reason to believe this may often happen then you should perhaps contact an ombudsman about this particular incident. That person will be able to see if they are seeing repeated infractions of the law. Wish you good luck, and hope for no falls in future.
This was wrong. You spoke to them. Hopefully they will call now for all falls. And as far as the skin you are likely aware of the great fragility. Skin, a small layer can literally be rubbed off by hand in us elders. Not much to be done about that. I can just brush something and one of those purple close to the surface things shows up, going all wine-colored later. Any further brushing against something will just take that layer right off.
Not much you can do except have WRITTEN in his careplan to call for EVERY fall, that is if you are the POA and the one to be notifed.
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