Nursing Home Failing to Refer a Resident to the Hospital

Nursing Home Malpractice: Failing to Refer a Resident to the Hospital

One type of nursing home malpractice is when a resident of a nursing home needs to become a patient at a hospital.  Nursing homes cannot provide all of the care and treatment that they always need.  They need to be treated at a higher level at a hospital.  But nursing homes don’t always want to transfer their residents to hospitals.  This adds costs and takes away manpower from a nursing home to do these special transports.  It also means that a resident’s spot in the nursing home may become vacant if they decide to not come back.  It also means less services which means less money.  But a nursing home failing to refer a resident to the hospital could be catastrophic.

There are times when nursing homes really must transfer a resident.  The failure to refer a resident to the hospital could be downright negligent.  This includes when the resident is very ill like with pneumonia or the flu, when the resident may have had an event like a stroke, heart attack, or other health emergency, or when the resident has fallen and needs to be checked for fractures.  

In addition, residents should be checked when they are suffering from a pressure sore or similar ailment.  This is a life-threatening condition which could result in the wrongful death of a resident.  This is likely due to sepsis.

But nursing homes do not always want to share their mistakes, errors, and failures with other providers.  Indeed, hospitals will absolutely find the mistakes and then create a situation where a nursing home could be held accountable for their error.  Yes, believe it or not, a nursing home could become liable for their mistakes!  But they want to hide those mistakes the best they can.  And try to get away with it.  Outrageous!  

Shouldn’t nursing homes be liable for the mistakes they make on residents?  Isn’t a nursing home failing to refer a resident to a hospital a big problem?  Absolutely!

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.