Deceased
Nola Inez DANIEL
Demographics
83y, female
Coroner
Coroner Linton
Date of death
2010-01-07
Cause of death
Complications following fracture and surgical repair of the left hip in an elderly lady with underlying chronic lung disease and valvular heart disease
AI-generated summary
Mrs Nola Inez Daniel, an 83-year-old with chronic lung disease, osteoporosis, and cardiac disease, was admitted to Regis Forrest Gardens for respite care on 24 December 2009. She sustained three falls on Christmas Day, with the final fall at 7:30 PM resulting in a fractured left hip that was not identified by nursing staff. Nurse Meyer assessed her after this fall, noted a head injury but failed to examine her lower limbs for hip fracture and did not call a doctor or document the fall. Subsequent nurses failed to recognize the significance of weight-bearing difficulty and facial bruising. The fracture was not diagnosed until 16 hours later on Boxing Day. She underwent hip repair surgery on 29 December but died from post-operative pneumonia and cardiac failure on 7 January 2010. Key clinical lessons include: immediate medical assessment mandatory after any fall causing visible injury; hip fracture must be excluded when elderly patients with osteoporosis sustain falls even without obvious leg deformity; adequate documentation and handover communication are essential; confused elderly patients require extra vigilance for serious injury.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Procedures
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A 72-year-old male underwent hip replacement despite undiagnosed metastatic bladder cancer. Following referral from his GP in May 2014 for an ultrasound showing bladder wall irregularities suspicious for cancer, urologis…
83y · Female·Complications following fracture and surgical repair of the left hip in an elder…
Nola Inez Daniel, 83, died from complications following a hip fracture and subsequent surgery at Bunbury Regional Hospital on 7 January 2010. She sustained a fractured left neck of femur during a fall at Regis Forrest Ga…
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