Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing Home Neglect: Wandering and Elopement

When an elderly person enters a nursing home, a plan of care must be created. The resident's risk for eloping or wandering should be considered within this nursing home care plan. Taking precautions to prevent wandering and eloping is necessary to ensure the resident's safety. Research shows that one in five nursing home residents are prone to wandering within the facility, putting themselves at risk for serious injury.

If your loved one has wandered or eloped from a nursing home, the facility may be held liable for failure to provide adequate supervision. Fill out our free case evaluation form today to discuss your options with a nursing home neglect attorney.

Under law, nursing home residents must receive proper supervision to prevent elopement and wandering. Elopement occurs when a nursing home resident, who is incapable of protecting himself, leaves the facility unsupervised and unnoticed and comes into harm's way. Wandering, on the other hand, occurs when a cognitively-impaired resident moves about inside the facility without attention to personal safety and enters a hazardous situation.

A nursing home may be negligent if a resident gets injured after wandering or eloping from the facility. For example, the nursing home can be held liable if it:

• Failed to hire adequate staff to supervise residents
• Failed to train employees on how to supervise residents
• Failed to install alarms or other devices to prevent elopement
• Hired employees who did not properly respond to an alarm

If your loved one was injured after wandering or eloping from a nursing home, you may be able to hold the facility liable for their negligent actions. Fill out our free case evaluation form today to hear from a nursing home abuse attorney.