When Do Most Falls Occur in Nursing Homes?

In This Article

• High-Risk Times
• Most Common Locations and Main Causes
• When Falls Are Related to Neglect
• Nursing Home Responsibilities for Resident Safety
• Contact a Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Today

Key Takeaways

• Most nursing home falls happen during day and evening shifts, peaking between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM.
• Nearly two-thirds of falls happen inside a resident’s own room, often during unassisted bed or chair transfers.
• Morning routines and shift changes create high-risk windows when residents lack immediate staff assistance.
• Dizziness, weakness, and certain medications significantly raise a nursing home resident’s risk of falling.
• Facilities that disable alarms or ignore call bells may create foreseeable, preventable fall risks.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports that roughly half of all nursing home residents fall each year, and about one in three who fall will fall again. Families asking “When do most falls occur in nursing homes?” Deserve a clear picture of whether their loved one’s facility took reasonable precautions or failed them.

Murray Stone Wilson | Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys represents Pittsburgh families when a fall points to understaffing, inadequate supervision, or disregarded care plans. If your loved one was injured, a Pittsburgh nursing home abuse lawyer can help evaluate whether the facility met its legal obligations.

Contact Pittsburgh Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys

Don’t wait if something feels wrong. Our legal team can review your situation, explain your options, and help you take immediate action to protect your family.

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High-Risk Times

Falls in Pittsburgh nursing homes cluster around specific windows rather than happening at random.

• Late Afternoon and Early Evening (4:00 PM to 8:00 PM): fatigue, sundowning, and attempts to move around unassisted before dinner cause a disproportionate share of falls.
• Morning Routines: getting out of bed, dressing, and walking to the bathroom test residents whose balance is already weak.
• Shift Changes: staff transitions can create brief communication gaps and temporary lapses in monitoring.

Most Common Locations and Main Causes

Location and cause carry equal weight in understanding why these incidents happen.

• Bedrooms and Bathrooms: Roughly two-thirds of falls happen in a resident’s room, often during unassisted transfers from a bed or chair. The National Council on Aging’s bedroom safety guidance points to poor lighting, clutter, and inaccessible furniture as common contributing hazards.
• Dizziness and Weakness: Low blood pressure upon standing, muscle loss, and poor balance create instability that raises fall risk.
• Medications: Drugs that cause drowsiness, confusion, or dizziness meaningfully increase the likelihood of a fall.

When Falls Are Related to Neglect

When do most falls occur in nursing homes? It is a valid question, but this is not just about a time or place; this can be related to neglect too. One in ten residents who fall sustains a significant injury, and roughly 65,000 nursing home residents suffer a hip fracture from a fall each year.

Facilities that disable bed or chair alarms, fail to respond to call bells, or leave high-risk residents unmonitored create conditions where falls are not accidents; they are foreseeable consequences of neglect.

Nursing Home Responsibilities for Resident Safety

Pennsylvania law requires nursing homes to assess each resident’s fall risk at admission and update the assessment whenever the resident’s condition changes. That assessment must drive a written care plan that addresses the resident’s specific risks, whether balance problems, medications that cause dizziness, or a history of falls.

Bed and chair alarms, adequate staffing, and timely call bell responses are baseline expectations, not optional measures. A nursing home that ignores these obligations and a resident is hurt as a result may face a legal claim under Pennsylvania law.

Contact a Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Today

Falls that cause fractures, head trauma, or death deserve serious legal scrutiny. Murray Stone Wilson | Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys helps Pittsburgh families determine whether a facility’s failures contributed to a loved one’s injury and what legal options Pennsylvania law provides.

Call (412) 516-6000 today for a free consultation with a Pittsburgh nursing home abuse lawyer and take the first step toward holding the responsible facility accountable.

William P. Murray, III

William P. Murray, III is a Tampa-based Shareholder with over 15 years of experience representing victims of nursing home abuse, corporate fraud, trucking accidents, and catastrophic injuries. He earned his Juris Doctor from American University’s Washington College of Law, where he received the Mooers’ Trophy for excellence in trial practice, and has served as both a trial lawyer and managing attorney at a national firm before co-founding Murray, Stone & Wilson, PLLC. Recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in Pennsylvania and Florida.

Speak with an experienced attorney about your case today.

get a free consultation Call us at 215-947-5300