DM moving to a nursing home - very worried about falls

[botanics]

After a very extended hospital stay (due to DF not having power of attorney for her) my DM is due to move into a nursing home this week. She has Parkinson's disease and now has very limited mobility. However she is still trying to walk (especially if there is no one there immediately to help) and we are very concerned that she may fall in the nursing home and quickly end up back in hospital. On the ward there are generally staff keeping an eye on people to stop falls but obviously she can't be watched 24/7 in a nursing home. Can anyone reassure me that the nursing home will be able to deal with this? I know there are options such as falls mats and sensors but not sure this will be enough.

No you can't be promised 1:1 24/7 at a nursing home = no falls. Sorry.

My stepdad is in a home. Initially, he had falls daily because he would constantly try to get up but had forgotten that his legs no longer work. So his falls were more of the sliding off his chair onto the floor type rather than a tripping up head banging fall. He’s never been seriously injured from his falls.
People in care homes can’t be restrained - there will be no rails on the beds for example as it’s more risky for a person to try to climb over the rail and then fall than for them to step out of bed and fall. There’s always staff around in the communal areas, so although he doesn’t have 1:1, staff are very close by.
Nowadays, he’s unable to move at all (he too has Parkinson’s) so never falls, just sits on his chair. He too had an extended hospital stay but that was because it took a few weeks to find him a suitable placement where he first went for assessment then ended up there permanently. This is more common than you think - bed blocking by the elderly is a massive problem. The fact that no one has POA can be a red herring.

My dad (also Parkinson's) has actually had less falls since he's been in a nursing home because he's getting his meds more regularly. At home he was forever forgetting/skipping doses and this affected his health and balance.

That's not to say he hasn't fallen at all but he's probably gone from once or twice a week to once a month of average. He has an alarmed mat by his bedside in case he gets out of bed at night plus a buzzer to call staff when he needs the bathroom.

He's mostly in a wheelchair these days (but still likes to attempt to walk sometimes) so his falls have been mainly sliding out of his chair or when he tries to go to the bathroom without help.

No you can never guarantee no falls, and actually we have to accept that some people will always choose trying to stay mobile over being confined to a chair…but the home should have a care plan in place to maximise her independence and minimise fall risk. It’s very important that people with Parkinson’s are encouraged to stay mobile as long as possible…as the above person said, having optimum medication timings is crucial.

Thanks very much for these insights. I'm sure the nursing home will do their absolute best to prevent it from happening.

They can put alarms on her bed and chair to alert them If she gets up

They can also lower bed and keep crash mat on floor beneath. They also set beams that trigger alarms if beam
is broken.