Injuries from Patient Wandering

Because many residents suffer from cognitive impairments, injuries from patient wandering are serious problems for nursing homes. “Wandering” is defined as straying into unsafe or unauthorized areas within the facility, while “elopement” is the term used when a resident who is unable to safely do so leaves the facility alone unsupervised or unnoticed. Statistics show that one of every five cognitively impaired nursing home residents were found to wander and more than 34,000 dementia patients stray from their homes or nursing homes every year.

Elopement can result in death in a number of ways. The individual may die of exposure from cold or dehydration from heat, lack of medication, falls, drowning in a nearby body of water or be struck by a car or even train. If a person who is incapable of protecting themselves wanders or elopes and is injured or killed, the facility may be liable.

Nursing home facilities are required to assess residents for wandering and elopement risks. If a nursing home resident is determined to be at risk for wandering and elopement, a care plan with preventative measures must be developed.

When the difficult decision to place a loved one in a nursing home has been reached, families spend much time finding a facility they can trust to keep their loved one safe. Sadly, many families find out too late that their trust has been misplaced. The nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Clark, Perdue & List understand the sense of betrayal and devastation families feel when a loved one dies as a result of nursing home neglect.