Tucker Nursing & Rehab Center complaint alleges fall-risk care-plan failures before a resident’s hip fracture
The complaint alleges that Tucker Nursing & Rehab Center admitted a 74-year-old resident for rehabilitation and scored him a high fall risk. Staff put no fall-risk care plan or interventions in place on admission. His wife found him sitting alone in a wheelchair the next morning. She told staff he was confused and not to leave him sitting alone. He fell in his room the next day while sitting unsupervised in his wheelchair. He was later found to have a new right-sided periprosthetic hip fracture, underwent surgical repair, and had a complicated recovery. The complaint alleges he never regained his prior mobility and remains in significant pain.
Overview
This page concerns a public complaint alleging that a Georgia nursing home did not carry out fall-risk precautions for a newly admitted, confused resident. He fell and fractured his hip after being left unsupervised in his wheelchair.
Chronology
The complaint alleges as follows:
- The resident, a 74-year-old man, was admitted to Tucker Nursing & Rehab Center on January 8, 2024 for rehabilitation. He had recently been hospitalized for acute kidney injury, diarrhea, and a urinary tract infection.
- A fall-risk evaluation that day scored him at high risk for falls, but staff checked no interventions on the assessment.
- A physician noted his fall risk on January 8, 2024 and discussed it with the nursing staff. His wife found him alone in a wheelchair the next morning and told staff not to leave him sitting alone in a wheelchair.
- On January 10, 2024 around 9:20 a.m., the resident had an unwitnessed fall in his room, which staff attributed to hallucinations. On information and belief, he was already awake, dressed, and placed in his wheelchair when he fell.
- He reported sharp right-hip pain rated 8 of 10, and a new fall-risk evaluation that day scored him even higher, at 17.
- A physician found his right leg internally rotated and ordered him sent to the emergency room for a suspected dislocated hip.
- He was diagnosed with a new right-sided periprosthetic fracture at the hospital and underwent surgical repair with a complicated postoperative course. He never regained his prior mobility and remains in significant pain.
Alleged failures
The complaint alleges the following failures:
- Staff did not accurately complete the resident’s fall-risk assessment on admission or recognize the extent of his risk.
- Staff did not develop and implement an interim fall-risk care plan on admission, despite a score requiring interventions. They checked no interventions on the assessment.
- Staff did not implement or document fall-risk interventions on admission despite his recent hospitalization and confusion.
- The filing alleges these failures caused his injury, pain, and suffering.
- The complaint pleads professional negligence, simple negligence, vicarious liability, and statutory nursing-home violations. It also pleads a Bill of Rights claim, breach of contract, and failure to provide sufficient staff. It pleads loss of consortium and joint enterprise, and attaches an expert affidavit under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1.