Spinal Injuries in Nursing Homes

A Spinal Injury in a Nursing Home Doesn’t Just “Happen”—It’s Often the Final Warning Sign of Deep, Longstanding Neglect

Spinal injuries in long-term care settings don’t occur in isolation. They are catastrophic consequences—usually of unaddressed fall risks, improper transfers, unsafe conditions, or years of failure to treat residents as individuals.

A fracture or cord injury may happen in seconds, but its impact is permanent. And in nearly every spinal injury case we’ve handled, someone could have intervened before it got this far.

At The Higgins Firm, we represent families in all 50 states after serious or fatal spinal trauma. We understand the difference between an unavoidable decline and a preventable disaster—and we build legal cases that prove it.

What Constitutes a Spinal Injury in a Nursing Home Setting?

Spinal injuries involve damage to the bones, discs, ligaments, or the spinal cord itself. For elderly residents—especially those with osteoporosis, frailty syndrome, or multiple comorbidities—even moderate trauma can cause devastating outcomes.

Common Spinal Injuries in Elder Care Facilities:

In nursing home residents, spinal injuries are rarely “clean breaks”—they almost always lead to cascading medical decline.

How Spinal Injuries Happen in Nursing Homes

Most spinal trauma in long-term care is the result of poor supervision, improper technique, or failure to act on known risk factors.

Leading Causes:

• Falls from beds, toilets, or chairs—often unwitnessed or due to unanswered call lights
• Rough or improper transfers—from bed to wheelchair, toilet, shower, or transport van
• Being dropped by overworked or untrained staff during repositioning
• Slip-and-fall incidents in wet hallways, cluttered rooms, or poorly lit areas
• Assaults or shoving between residents (especially in memory care units)
• Mechanical lift accidents—from sling malpositioning or lack of dual-staff assistance
• Failure to immobilize or assess after a known fall or suspected spinal injury

In far too many cases, no one calls a physician or transfers the resident to a hospital until hours—or days—after the event.

These Injuries Are Predictable in High-Risk Residents

Facilities are required to evaluate and document residents’ fall, bone health, and transfer risk. When they don’t, spinal trauma is almost inevitable. Red flags include:

• Diagnosed osteoporosis, osteopenia, or Paget’s disease
• Long-term use of steroids or anticoagulants
• History of prior falls, compression fractures, or back pain
• Diagnosed Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or post-stroke weakness
• Inability to bear weight, requiring two-person assist or lift devices
• Presence of neurologic deficits, such as incontinence or gait instability
• Known history of spinal surgery or spinal cord disease

Despite these obvious indicators, facilities often use cookie-cutter care plans that fail to identify and address individual risk.

What Staff Are Legally Required to Do

Under the Nursing Home Reform Act and CMS regulations, nursing homes must:

• Perform comprehensive fall and fracture risk assessments
• Tailor care plans with individualized mobility and transfer protocols
• Supervise all ambulation and transfers for at-risk residents
• Provide and properly use assistive equipment, such as gait belts and lifts
• Maintain sufficient staffing to perform transfers safely (especially for total assist residents)
• Notify medical providers and family immediately after suspected trauma
• Ensure prompt radiographic imaging and hospitalization after high-impact incidents or reports of spinal pain

Any failure to meet these standards may constitute gross neglect or regulatory violations—especially if the injury resulted in disability or death.

The Real-Life Consequences of Spinal Injuries in the Elderly

Most families aren’t just dealing with the injury—they’re dealing with the fact that their loved one was fine the day before and never the same again.

How The Higgins Firm Builds Spinal Injury Cases

We investigate spinal injury cases by recreating the full timeline—before, during, and after the trauma. Our approach includes:

• Care plan audits, including lift protocols, transfer documentation, and fall risk assessments
• Staff interviews and deposition prep, often revealing skipped checks or rushed transfers
• Review of radiology and hospital records, with expert interpretation
• Consultation with orthopedic surgeons, geriatricians, and rehabilitation specialists
• Analysis of prior falls, injuries, and internal incident reports
• CMS inspection report cross-checks, to identify prior citations or similar injuries

We also expose institutional patterns—such as chronic understaffing, poor training, or overuse of temporary workers—that contribute to these preventable injuries.

Compensation in Spinal Injury Cases

If a spinal injury in a nursing home was caused by neglect or mismanagement, your family may be eligible to recover:

• Hospital and surgical expenses
• Physical therapy and assistive equipment costs
• Pain and suffering
• Permanent disability damages
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Wrongful death damages (if applicable)
• Punitive damages in egregious or repeat violation cases

We pursue not just recovery, but accountability—because what happened to your loved one should never happen again.

Why Families Choose The Higgins Firm

• Spinal injury litigation is complex—we know the medical details and legal strategy it takes to win.
• Our firm focuses exclusively on nursing home abuse and neglect.
• We represent clients in all 50 states, from our base in Nashville, TN.
• We work with top-tier medical experts and clinical consultants.
• We go further—reconstructing the injury, exposing the system, and fighting for results.

This isn’t just a case to us—it’s your loved one’s life and future. And we take that personally.

Speak to a Nursing Home Spinal Injury Lawyer Today

If your loved one suffered a fractured back, neck, or spinal cord injury while in a nursing home, and you’ve been given more questions than answers—you’re not alone. We can help.