Illinois nursing center fined $25k after patient fall

The DeKalb County (Ill.) Rehab and Nursing Center was fined $25,000 in January after staff improperly moved a patient to his bed, which led the patient to fall and sustain a leg fracture requiring surgery, according to an Illinois Department of Public Health report obtained by the Daily Chronicle.

Since the patient suffers from hypertension, anemia, osteoarthritis and left hip fusion, his bedside care plan requires two people to transfer him to and from his bed, according to the report.

However, a certified nursing assistant tried to transfer the patient from his wheelchair to his bed on her own Dec. 9, the report said. The patient's knee gave out and he fell to the floor.

The nursing assistant claimed she attempted to transfer the patient without help because she had watched other staff do it before and thought it was acceptable. The nursing assistant also said she had not checked the patient's bedside care card until after he fell, according to the report.

The patient was taken to a local hospital, where staff found he had fractured his left femur, and then transferred to another hospital for surgery, according to the report.

The report said several caregivers corroborated that the patient had always required a two-person transfer and caregivers should always check the bedside care card to determine the number of staff necessary to safely transfer a patient.

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