Call Now
713-521-0059
In many cases, yes. Pressure ulcers, falls, dehydration, malnutrition and medication errors in a long term care facility are usually staffing failures. Staffing is documented, and a neglect claim is built from the facility’s own records.
The step that cannot wait is the chart. Records get finalized, residents get moved, and wounds change from one week to the next. Request the complete chart in writing now, and photograph what you see at every visit. Call 713-521-0059.
Yes. If a resident was sexually assaulted in a facility, our page on sexual assault in a nursing home covers that claim. A neglect claim is about the injuries that come from a facility that did not do what it was paid to do. That means turning a resident, feeding and hydrating them, assessing fall risk and giving medication correctly, among other things. The proof is different, and so are the records you will need to request from the facility and the hospital.
The first record is the care plan, and whether it was followed. Then come the turn and reposition schedules, the wound care notes and photographs, and the weight and intake charts. Fall risk assessments and post fall reviews, along with the medication administration records, show whether known risks were managed. And staffing schedules against census are frequently where the explanation is.
Census means the number of residents in the building on a given shift. When the number of aides on the floor does not match the number of residents who need turning, feeding and help to the bathroom, the injuries tend to follow the schedule. A pressure ulcer that develops and worsens in a facility is documented at every stage, or the absence of documentation is itself the evidence.
The facility itself is the usual defendant, but it is rarely the only company involved. A nursing home may be owned by one company, licensed under another name, and managed by a third company that sets the budget and the staffing levels. Some facilities also use outside staffing agencies, therapy contractors or pharmacy services that play a part in your family member’s daily care. Each of these companies may have its own records and its own insurance, and identifying them early keeps your options open.
You may notice it before the facility reports it. Weight loss, a resident who is often thirsty or confused, bruises no one explained, bed sores, soiled bedding and call lights that go unanswered are common signs. So are medication changes that no one told you about. Write down what you see, the date and time, and the name of anyone you spoke with. A simple notebook started on the first visit that worried you is often more useful than memory later, because months can pass before anyone asks you for the details.
Request the complete chart in writing, including nursing notes and the electronic audit trail. Photograph wounds with a date reference at every stage. If the resident is moving facilities, do it before the transfer.
The audit trail shows who entered each note and when. It can show that a note was written after the fact. Ask the hospital for its records too, if your family member was sent there. The admission notes often describe the resident’s condition on arrival, in the words of someone who did not work at the facility.
It can, because Chapter 74 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code governs health care liability claims. Section 74.001(a)(11)(J) lists a nursing home as a health care institution, and the chapter includes a health care institution in its definition of a health care provider. So a neglect claim against a nursing home is often a health care liability claim. That kind of claim usually requires an expert report under Section 74.351, served on a short, fixed schedule after each defendant answers.
Our page on medical malpractice claims explains how those claims work. That is one more reason your family should not wait to ask.
Under Section 16.003 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, most injury claims must be filed within two years after the day the claim accrues, which is usually the date of the injury. Where Section 16.003 applies to a death claim, subsection (b) runs the two years from the date of death. A health care liability claim against a nursing home is governed instead by the limitations rule in Section 74.251. That rule generally runs two years from the breach or from the date the treatment is completed, with its own exceptions and a 10-year outer limit. Do not treat any date as a promise.
Where neglect led to a death, Section 71.004 allows the surviving spouse, children and parents to bring a wrongful death action. Section 71.021 separately allows a survival action for the claims your family member would have had. Call 713-521-0059.
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
The facility holds nearly all of this. Your own notes, photographs and the hospital records fill in what the facility chart leaves out. A written request for the complete chart, made early, is the first step. The next is comparing what the chart says with what your family saw, visit by visit, and with the staffing records for the same shifts.
We start with the chart and the staffing records, because together they show what the facility knew and when. Then we identify every responsible party: the facility, the company that owns or operates it, and any contractor that supplied staff or care.
Schiffer Law Firm is a Houston personal injury firm with 50 plus years of combined experience representing injured people across Texas.
There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Written by Jacob Schiffer, Attorney, Schiffer Law Firm. State Bar of Texas No. 24105175.
Call 713-521-0059.
It can be. A pressure ulcer that develops and worsens in a facility is documented at every stage, or the absence of documentation is itself the evidence.
The complete chart, including nursing notes, the care plan, turn and reposition schedules, wound care notes, weight and intake charts, fall assessments, medication records and the electronic audit trail.
That is your decision about their safety, and their safety comes first. If you move them, request the records and photograph the wounds before the transfer, because the new facility's records will describe their condition from the day they arrive.
No. They are different claims with different proof. Our nursing home sexual assault page covers that claim.
Section 71.004 allows the surviving spouse, children and parents to bring a wrongful death action. Section 71.021 allows a survival action for the claims the person who died would have had.
Often two years, but the starting point can differ. Section 16.003 generally runs from the day the claim accrues, and a health care liability claim against a nursing home is governed by Section 74.251. Ask about your dates early.