Nursing home residents who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease are at serious risk for wandering away from the nursing home. Wandering residents are at risk for suffering a serious injury or death. Nursing homes that accept residents that suffer from dementia must properly monitor and supervise them to keep them safe. Without proper monitoring, these residents can wander into unsafe or unprotected areas of the nursing home or even outside.
When families place their loved one in a nursing home, they trust the promises made by the facility that the staff will keep their loved ones safe. All too often though nursing home corporations do not adequately budget for staffing levels sufficient to provide adequate monitoring of confused patients suffering from dementia. The result is often tragic.
What should nursing homes do to prevent residents from wandering?
It has been estimated that nearly 50% of all nursing home residents suffer from some form of dementia. Residents with dementia or Alzheimer’s are prone to being confused, forgetting where they are or who is caring for them. As a result, they will either become confused and wander away from the facility or actively try to escape. Residents with dementia are challenging to care for, but nursing homes know that this is a part of the day to day care they are to provide. In fact, many nursing homes not only advertise that they specialize in caring for those with dementia, some even have special sections of the facility designed to better protect those with dementia. These areas are often referred to “lock down units” because presumably one needs a key or a code to get into or out of the specialized unit.
Before accepting a resident with dementia, a nursing home must assess the resident to determine whether they can provide a safe environment and adequate care for the resident. If the nursing home accepts the resident, they are affirming that they have the ability to keep the resident safe. They are then to initiate a plan of care specifically designed to care for the residents at high risk for wandering and elopement.
Some aspects to such care plans include:
- To consistently monitor doors—especially during shift changes where residents are particularly inclined to wander.
- Place residents that have been characterized “at risk” for wandering closer to nursing stations so that they can be more closely monitored.
- Using alarms on the resident’s bed, wheelchair or door as well as the residents themselves.
- Exit doors should be alarmed to notify staff when residents leave the facility.
When are nursing homes liable for injuries suffered by residents who have wandered or eloped from the facility?
Nursing home facilities may be found liable for injuries suffered by a resident who wanders away from a facility when the nursing home has failed to provide adequate protection to keep the resident safe. This can happen in a variety of ways, such as if the nursing home fails to follow its own policies and procedures or by failing to adhere to the regulatory rules. If a nursing home has failed to provide a sufficient number of properly trained staff members to properly monitor and supervise at risk residents, they could be held liable for injuries that result if a resident wanders away.
Residents who wander can get injured in a variety of ways. They can:
- Suffer one or more falls.
- Walk into traffic and get hit by a car or truck.
- Get lost and become exposed to the elements (excessive heat or cold).
- Become victims of crime.
We can help your loved one who has been injured after wandering or eloping from a nursing home
Our attorneys have been successful in resolving cases favorable to our clients and their families where nursing home residents have suffered injuries after wandering from a nursing home facility. If a family member or loved one has been suffered injuries or death as a result of a fall at a Maryland nursing home, contact Nursing Home Justice Associates at 1-410-825-ABUSE (2287) to learn more about your legal rights.
Nursing Home Justice…..It’s What We Do.
Other Injuries Suffered By Nursing Home Residents:
Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcer
Burns
Choking
Clogged Breathing Tubes
Falls
Malnutrition & Dehydration
Medication Errors
Physical Abuse
Restraints & Bedrails
Sepsis/Infection
Sexual Abuse
Wandering & Elopement