Orlando Nursing Home Fall Lawyer — Free Consultation

Orlando's large and rapidly growing senior population — combined with the highest concentration of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in Central Florida — means Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties see thousands of nursing home falls every year. Many of these falls are never reported to the state. The ones that are reported regularly appear in AHCA inspection deficiency reports, and Florida publishes these reports publicly.

Florida law sets a high standard of care for nursing homes and assisted living facilities through Florida Statute Chapter 400 (skilled nursing) and Chapter 429 (assisted living). § 400.022 grants residents enumerated rights including adequate and appropriate health care, and § 400.023 creates a private right of action with statutory attorney's fees for residents who suffer harm because of the facility's failure to provide that care.

Florida regulations require every facility to conduct a fall risk assessment on admission, reassess after every fall or change in condition, and develop an individualized fall prevention care plan. Common care plan interventions include bed alarms and chair alarms, low beds, fall mats, scheduled toileting every 1-2 hours, two-person assist for transfers, hip protectors, non-slip footwear, and one-on-one supervision for high-risk residents. When the facility fails to follow its own care plan, liability is generally clear.

Florida law also specifically authorizes punitive damages against nursing homes that engage in gross negligence — particularly common in cases involving falsified records, altered care plans, or facilities with prior fall-related deficiencies that were never corrected. § 768.72 caps punitive damages at three times compensatory damages or $500,000, whichever is greater, with limited exceptions.