California Nursing Home Fined $100,000 After Resident Suffers Fatal Head Injury
Pilgrim Haven, a northern California nursing home, has been fined $100,000 in the death of one of its residents. The eighty-five year old man sustained a severe head injury in a December 2009 fall and died the following day.
Reportedly, on December 7, 2009, the elderly man was found on the floor of his room where he had fallen. Although he denied hitting his head, the man was given a neurological exam that appeared normal. Later, when he turned pale and began vomiting, facility staff failed to assess him for head injuries and did not notify his physician for approximately two hours because there was no registered nurse on duty that evening.
The man was transferred to a local hospital, where he died the next morning. CT scan results found that the man suffered bleeding in the brain.
Frankly, the nursing home employees appear to have failed "head injury symptoms 101" in their response. Any time someone suffers a head injury, there are certain symptoms to watch for. If you notice any of these symptoms, call for help:
- Nausea that won't go away
- Vomiting
- Worsening headaches
- Change in behavior
- Weakness or numbness in legs or arms
- Increasing paleness
- Seizures
The nursing home employees at Pilgrim Haven should have recognized these obvious signs of head injury and contacted a physician or had the resident transferred to a local hospital for treatment.
