Why Do Patient Falls Keep Happening In Hospitals? They Are Preventable.

When a loved one goes into the hospital, we trust that they’ll receive constant monitoring, skilled care, and protection from preventable harm. One of the most common and devastating failures inside hospitals is patient falls — especially involving older adults, people on medication, and anyone recovering from surgery.

Here’s the hard truth most families never hear:

Patient falls almost never “just happen” in a hospital. When they do, it’s usually because proper safety procedures were ignored.

Patient Falls Aren’t Random — They’re Predictable

Hospitals aren’t like homes or grocery stores. They know in advance that many of their patients are:

• Unsteady on their feet

• Confused or disoriented

• Weak after surgery

• On medications that affect balance

• Unable to call for help independently

Because of that, fall prevention isn’t an optional extra — it’s part of the standard of care.

Hospitals are supposed to:

• Flag high-risk patients immediately

• Put them on a fall-prevention plan

• Monitor them frequently

• Ensure they are never left to walk alone when unsafe

When any of those steps are skipped, a fall becomes not an accident — but preventable harm.

Why Do Patient Falls Often Signal Negligence?

I have a handled more hospital cases than I can count, and many of those have involved patient falls.

If a patient falls in a hospital, one or more of these safety failures is usually involved:

None of these failures are “bad luck.” They are preventable mistakes that hospitals are trained to avoid.

What Are the Red Flags That Point Toward Hospital Negligence?

Families often notice warning signs before a fall occurs. These are especially important:

• 🚩 Patient repeatedly waiting long periods for assistance 🚩

• 🚩 Call button unplugged or ignored 🚩

• 🚩 Bed/chair alarms never activated 🚩

• 🚩 Staff rushing or severely understaffed 🚩

• 🚩 Nurses not documenting when they check on patient 🚩

• 🚩 Patient told to “just go by yourself” 🚩

If any of these happened, it’s worth taking seriously.

What Is the Human Cost of a “Simple” Patient Fall In a Hospital?

Falls in hospitals can lead to:

• Hip fractures

• Brain bleeds or concussions

• Internal injuries

• Permanent loss of mobility

• Wrongful death

What should have been a temporary hospital stay can become a life-changing tragedy.

What Families Can Do

You don’t need to know all the legal language to protect your loved one — and you don’t have to confront the hospital alone.

If you suspect negligence, you can:

• Ask for the full incident report

• Request a copy of the fall-prevention plan that should have been in place

• Document everything you remember — dates, times, conversations

• Speak to a patient-safety attorney familiar with hospital negligence like Chad Shannon at the Shannon Law Group

• Consider contacting the Joint Commission to report the fall

When hospitals cut corners, patients fall and families pay the price — and that’s not acceptable.

Final Thought

Patient falls in hospitals are not unavoidable.

They’re preventable events that happen when safety protocols fail.

If a hospital tries to tell you that a fall was “just an accident” or “nothing could be done,” you deserve to get the truth — and to hold them accountable if they failed to protect your loved one.

How Do I Get Help Now?

If you live in Pennsylvania or West Virginia and you or your loved one was injured from a fall in hospital, call us at 412-204-7103. Attorney Chad Shannon will personally follow-up with you.

You are not alone. At the Shannon Law Group, LLC, we feel your struggle. We help you find your way.