Slip and falls are common across the United States.  Despite the fact that slip and falls are preventable, they are still  one of the most common injuries that take place within a nursing home.

Here is a list of things that you can do, to protect the elderly from a slip and fall within a nursing home:

1. Watch out for wet floors – It’s no surprise that wet floors can cause someone to slip or fall. We have all slipped at one point in our life from the ground being wet.  Nursing homes are required to maintain their facility and watch out for areas that may be wet.  If you identify an area in a nursing home where the ground is wet, alert the nursing staff immediately.
2. Loose carpet – From time to time, you may walk into a grocery store and trip over a mat placed near the front of company’s door.  The mat, though placed there for you to wipe your feet, may not be securely placed on the ground, which consequently creates a hazard to patrons entering the store.  Again, notify proper staff immediately, if you find an area at the nursing home where the carpet or flooring may cause an elderly person to slip and fall.

<h2>Reporting Slip and Falls</h2>

The first step to report slip and falls is actually to visit the hospital.  You want to make sure that your loved one is taken care of properly and that there are no internal damages (in addition to external cuts, bruises and/or lacerations).

Next, be sure to document as much information as possible about the incident.  Items to include in your notes include the names of the nursing home staff at the time of the accident and the exact location of the incident.  If you can, take pictures of the area for documentation purposes.

Finally, if the slip and fall resulted in serious injury or even wrongful death, you may want to consider hiring an nursing home abuse attorney.