You can sue the nursing home on behalf of your mother for negligence.  Negligence is the failure to exercise due care (that degree of care that a reasonable nursing home would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances to prevent foreseeable harm).Damages (the amount of compensation you are seeking in the lawsuit on behalf of your mother) would include her medical bills and compensation for pain and suffering.  Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement.  Compensation for pain and suffering is an amount in addition to the medical bills and is based on the medical reports which document the nature and extent of the injury / medical condition  caused by the nursing home's negligence.