Although people go to hospitals to get well, there are injuries you can pick up while hospitalized. For example, it's possible for an impatient to slip and fall, incurring serious injuries. Here are some of the reasons you may slip and fall in a hospital setting:
You Were Left Unattended
Depending on your level of illness or incapacitation, you may need close attention if you are being treated as an inpatient at a hospital facility. For example, a patient suffering from occasional seizures shouldn't be left alone because no one knows when the seizures may strike. Therefore, if you are alone and there is no way (for example, CCTV cameras) for the staff to know when a seizure strikes, you can easily fall and injure yourself.
There Was Miscommunication Between and/or Between the Staff
In a typical hospital, the safety of a patient isn't entirely in the hands of one person. The cooperation between the patient, doctors, hospital administrators, nurses, nurse aids, and even cleaners is necessary for patient's safety. This means a communication breakdown can easily result in a patient's injury. For example, you may injure yourself by trying to move out of the bed if your doctor knows that you shouldn't be moved but doesn't communicate the same to you. You may also get injured if a physiotherapist knows that you shouldn't walk beyond a certain time limit, but doesn't communicate the same to your nurse aid.
The Floor Wasn't Properly Cleaned
You are more likely to fall on a dirty floor than a clean floor; this is a fact whether you are in a hospital or in your own home. Spills on the floor are especially notorious for causing slip and fall accidents, but other forms of litter or debris may also cause such accidents. That is one more reason such dirt or spills should be cleaned off the hospital floor as soon as they occur.
The Hospital Didn't Adhere To Fall Prevention Standards
Lastly, you may also suffer a slip and fall accident if the hospital hasn't strictly adhered to the prevailing fall prevention standards. Fall prevention facilities and infrastructure include things like side rails, proper lighting, electronic monitoring devices, and patient restrain, among others. For this, you will probably need the testimony of an expert witness to prove that the hospitals fall-prevention standards were inadequate.
If you think someone else's negligence caused you to slip and fall, then you deserve to be compensated for your injuries irrespective of where you got injured. Of course, a personal injury attorney can help you streamline the injury claim process.
After I was involved in a car accident, I knew that I couldn't go on doing my normal routine. I could barely walk, much less work, which is why I started to panic when the medical bills started rolling in. I began thinking about what I could do to make things right, and I realized that I really needed to work with a lawyer. I began talking with my lawyer about getting the compensation I needed, and he was instrumental in helping me to heal emotionally and financially. Check out this blog for great tips on working with an accident and injury attorney.