Nursing Homes Abuse Blog - By Jonathan Rosenfeld

At the heart of many allegations of negligence involving assisted living facilities is an underlying presumption that the facilities failure to properly supervise a resident resulted in an injury to a patient. Supervisory issues take center stage in many cases because the need for additional supervision is a primary reason why many people seek out the services of an assisted living facility in the first place-- because they can not care for themselves at home.

While we frequently discuss the internal threats to patients at nursing homes or assisted living facilities-- such as through falls or food poisoning, more attention needs to be put upon the inherent safety threats posed to residents when they 'wander' or 'elope' from the safety of the facility as these threats may not always be deemed valid.

When discussing situations involving patient elopement, the circumstance commonly involves a patient who lacks the capacity to truly comprehend the ramifications of their actions.  Unlike a patient who may be unhappy with their situation or living arrangements at a nursing home or assisted living facility and seeks to 'escape' back to the life they once knew, the most concerning cases of patient elopement / wandering involve patients who lack the cognitive ability to make decisions for themselves. 

Individuals plagued with Alzheimer's and other types of memory loss are perhaps the biggest risks when it comes to categories of patients who are "elopement risks".  Identifying patients who pose a risk of eloping from the facility is indeed one of the most important factors in preventing these situations from occurring in the first place.  Once the risk has been identified, facilities can then implement both physical safeguards and behavior modifications to help prevent incidents of elopement from occurring.

I was again reminded about the dangers related to patient elopement when I read about an incident involving a patient who eloped from an assisted living facility in New Jersey and was struck by a car and killed as she was crossing the highway adjacent to the facility.  According to news reports of the incident, the woman suffered from schizophrenia, psychosis, both short-term and long-term memory loss and was known to was identified as being an 'elopement risk' by the facility.

Believing that this incident should have been avoidable with proper care, the family of the deceased resident has initiated a lawsuit against both the ALF, Brandywine Assisted Living, and the company's CEO.

From a legal perspective, if the circumstances prove to be correct, this facility obviously breached its duty of care in looking after this vulnerable patient.  Particularly with the advancements in technology being made with both GPS locating technology and other devises to notify staff when a patient is attempting to leave a facility, incidents such as this really need not occur.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries:

Man Wanders From Illinois Nursing Home With Dangerous Track Record Of Patient Care

State Fines Nursing Home Where Patients Drowns In Puddle In Front Of Facility

Lack Of Door Alarms Allows Assisted Living Patient To Wander To Her Death

It seems like the staff at Midwest Rehabilitation & Respiratory Care in Belleville, IL needs a refresher course in caring for patients with a propensity to wander. Last month the facility made headlines when a 77-year-old dementia patient wandered a short distance from the facility and died due to exposure to the elements.

Now, following an investigation by officials from the State of Illinois Department of Health, it appears that the man had prior episodes of attempting to leave the facility-- yet the facility failed to take the necessary steps to prevent the situation from occurring again.

A recent article in the Belleville News-Democrat by Kevin Bersett, “State: Belleville nursing home negligent” discussed the utter lack of safeguards in place at the facility intended to protect patients such as this man. When interviewed by state officials, nursing home employees conceded that they never heard any door or window alarm (to alert them that a patient had left the facility) on the day of the man’s disappearance. Further, staff was aware that the man should be wearing a monitoring device—yet staff allowed the man to remove the device.

All told, the state officials dispensed eight citations to Midwest Rehab concerning negligent care in the manner the facility handled both the care of the patient who recently wandered from the facility as well as for other issues identified during the inspection.

Officials were so concerned about the lack of wandering safeguards they issued considered the situation to pose an ‘immediate jeporardy’ to the patients at the facility and ordered the following corrective measures be implemented on the spot:

The surveyor confirmed through interview, record review and observation that the Facility took the following actions required attention to remove the Immediacy:

1. On 1/15/12, the facility conducted individual in-service training for all staff. All staff were in-services on the following policies and protocol: Elopements, Wandering Residents, Missing Residents, Head Checks and Drills, Elopement Drills, Door Alarms, Behavior Tracking, Tracking Sheets, Residents Currently on Tracking and/or (patient monitoring device) and the (patient monitoring device) System Policy.

2. On 1/16/12, the facility reassessed all current residents in the facility to determine wandering risk status. Following this, all high risk residents care plans were reviewed and changes made as necessary.

3. On 1/16/12, a Quality Assurance (QA) Meeting was held and all areas of the facility were reviewed to determine the possible exit route of the missing resident and other possible problem areas that exist. New preventative measures were implemented at that time as needed.

4. On 1/16/12, the QA committee reviewed all related policies and revisions were made as needed.

5. On 1/16/12 and on-going, secondary keyed door alarms were installed on all exit doors accessible to residents.

6. On 1/16/12, all high risk resident's information was placed in a binder at each nursing station and at the front desk. Each binder included the individual residents face sheet, a current picture, room number and specific interventions to be in place.

7. On 1/16/12, Receptionist's hours have been extended and are now from 8:00 AM until 9:00 PM to provide additional monitoring of our main entrance.

8. On 1/16/12 and on-going, all door alarms will be checked by Maintenance daily (Monday-Friday) and by the weekend manager on Saturday and Sunday to ensure they are in proper working order. These checks will be documented at the time they are completed. Batteries will be changed monthly and as needed.

9. On 1/16/12 and on-going, Elopement Drills will be conducted monthly, alternating shifts, and randomly per Director of Nurse's (DON) and/or designee. 10. On 1/16/12 and on-going, Head Check Drills will be conducted monthly, alternating shifts, and randomly per DON and/or designee.

11. On 1/16/12 and on-going, an initial Wandering Assessment will be completed on all new admits on the day of admission, in conjunction with their 14 day assessment, quarterly and PRN. Follow-up will be implemented based on the results of the assessment.

12. On 1/16/12 and on-going, patient monitoring devices will be checked daily by the MDS nurses Monday thru Friday and on the weekend by the weekend manager.

While the above safety measures seem justified, I find it sad that give the inherently basic nature of most measures, these were not implemented without an intervention from officials. In light of this publicized nursing home error and the prospect of facing a civil lawsuit from the deceased man’s family, I hope that this provides enough incentive for management to begin changing the way they operate and start giving patient needs a priority.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog entries:

Illinois Officials Begin Examination of Nursing Home Procedures Following Elopement Of Alzheimer's Patient

Investigation Initiated After Suspicious Nursing Home Death, Involving Patient Wandering and Drowning

Too Little, Too Late. Nursing Home Submits Corrective Plan After Disabled Patient Wanders From Facility To His Death

State Fines Nursing Home Where Patients Drowns In Puddle In Front Of Facility

After hearing the evidence in a wrongful death lawsuit involving an elderly woman's fall at a Florida Nursing Home, a jury became so enraged by the conduct of the facility--- that they chose to punish them the only way they could-- by handing down a huge verdict against the facility.

The trial centered around the care--- or perhaps lack thereof-- that a 92-year-old woman received at Pinellas Park Care and Rehabilitation Center during an admission to the facility in 2004.  It was during that admission, that the staff at the facility allowed the woman to wander in her wheelchair to an unsecured stairway where she fell down multiple stairs to her death.

In addition to the oversight in allowing this patient-- with known wandering propensities--- to wander away from a group of patients at the facility, staff failed to notice the woman's whereabouts even though she was equipped with multiple alarms to alert the facility as to her whereabouts.

According to news reports regarding this landmark nursing home verdict, within just an hour of deliberations the jury awarded the woman's estate $60 million in compensatory damages and $140 million in punitive damages.

Given the impressive award, my guess is that the jury became quite angered after hearing about the was that this facility was operated.  Testimony provided by former employees of the nursing home described a facility was was under-staffed and that allowed problems to develop in the past when the patient suffered other falls and injuries at the facility.  

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries:

Wheelchair Patient Falls To Death Down Un-secured Staircase In Nursing Home

Staff Need To Protect Disabled Nursing Home Patients As They Transport Them In Wheelchairs

Unattended Nursing Home Patient Falls Down Stairway In Wheelchair

Fall Leaves Veteran With Broken Neck In Illinois Nursing Home

Criminal charges have been brought against three nursing home workers on duty the night an Alzheimer's patient wandered from Texas nursing home to his death.  The three were employed in various capacities at a facility known as Tumbleweed Nursing Home on the evening of February 3rd of this year.

Surveillance video from the nursing home demonstrated that an Alzheimer's patient that the staff was responsible for supervising wandered without any intervention from the safety of the nursing home into the frigid outside temperatures.  Hours after the patient left the nursing home, he was found dead outside.  An autopsy revealed that the man's death was related to hypothermia.

After evaluating the evidence related to this nursing home death, a Grand Jury determined that there was sufficient evidence for to prosecute the workers on charges related to injury to the elderly, a third-degree felony.

Like other situations involving injuries to a nursing home resident, the family of this deceased nursing home patients may also elect to pursue a civil lawsuit against this facility based upon the negligence in supervising their loved one.  Unlike a criminal case, families in a civil case may recover money damages for the loss of their loved one.  Read more about the criminal charges pending against these nursing home employees here.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries:

Hypothermia Confirmed As Cause Of Death In Nursing Home Wandering Case

Elderly Woman Wanders From Her Convalescent Home To Her Death

Woman Dies From Hypothermia After Wandering From Assisted Living Facility

Alzheimer's Resident Dies Hours After Escaping From Illinois Nursing Home

Wandering in a potentially deadly problem for nursing home patients with dementia and other medical conditions that make them unable to appreciate the dangers around them. 

While not a common problem, wandering from nursing homes puts particularly vulnerable patients at risk for harming themselves when they find themselves in the outside world with no one to look after them.

Just 200 feet from the doors to the nursing home where she was a patient, a 92-year woman left the facility without the knowledge of the facility staff and managed to fall into a shallow puddle nearby and drown.  Authorities from the North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulation have issued a $20,000 fine against, Bradford Village of Kernersville, the facility that was to be supervising the woman.

In the course of the agencies investigation, it was determined that the facility made numerous errors when it came to ensuring the safety of the woman.  In particular, the investigation revealed:

• The staff at the facility failed to conduct regular inspections of the woman's room to help track her whereabouts.
• Numerous code violations regarding errors made the physical environment, personal care and supervised.
• Door alarms at the facility were de-activated to allow staff to easily exit the facility to smoke cigarettes.
• Supervisors at the facility unaware of safety protocols.
• Staff failing to appreciate the fact that the woman suggested that she wanted to leave the facility earlier in the evening

Certainly, tragedies such as this, are reminder of the necessity of all facilities that care for patients who have dementia or other medical conditions that make them unable to appreciate their surrounding dangers. 

Having worked on a number of nursing home wandering cases, I always encourage families to report the situation to the state department of health so an into the incident can be investigated in a timely manner. 

Given the fact that many nursing homes have extraordinarily high staff turnover rates, conducting a timely investigation and obtaining statements from staff is especially important.  Frequently, I cite these early investigations as a primary reason why some cases can be resolved early on as opposed to protracted litigation.

Related:

Hypothermia Confirmed As Cause Of Death In Nursing Home Wandering Case

$821,000 Awarded To Family Of Deceased Assisted Living Patient Who Wandered From Facility

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Ensues After Nursing Home Patient Is Struck By A Freight Train

Chicago Nursing Home Cited For Multiple Violations Following Drowning Death Of Patient

As a nursing home lawyer, I spend a lot of time reviewing patient charts.  Particularly when it comes to evaluating cases, a thorough review of medical records is crucial for determining the important questions: Who? What? Why?  When? 

Occasionally, my chart reviews reveal more than I expect when: medication charts reveal that medication was administered for days after my client was transferred to another facility.  Or on one occasion, there were nurses’ notes for hours following a client’s death.

When I see serious charting errors, I makes me question not just the care surrounding a particular incident, but all care at the entire facility.

I applaud a recent case where criminal charges were filed against three nurses aides at a Bronx, NY nursing home who clearly lied about caring for patient who had wandered from the facility. 

After comparing the patient’s chart with a videotape from the facility, it was apparent that three aides at Beth Abraham Health Services lied about caring for the patient whom had already left the facility.

Thankfully, the patient was located safe shortly after a housekeeper at the nursing home reported she was missing to the police.  Nonetheless, the attorney general has filed charges relating to:

• Endangering the welfare of a physically disabled person
• Falsifying medical records
• Willful violations of health law

No word on when these nursing home employees will face their trial, but the facility obviously didn’t think much about the criminal charges—or safety concerns for other patients---- these aides were reinstated after they were initially fired. 

Related:

Three nursing home aides lied about missing schizophrenic patient in wheelchair, NYDailyNews.com, February 24, 2011

Nursing Home Injury Laws: New York

Nursing Home Settles Lawsuit After Fraudulent Records Discovered

Admissions Suspended At An Emeritus Assisted Living Facility Following The Discovery Of: Medication Errors, Bed Sores & Falsified Medical Records

Another unnecessary death of an assisted living patient grabbed my attention in Greensboro, North Carolina.  News reports indicate 85-year-old Edith Purvis walked out the side-door at a Loyalton Assisted Living facility on December 24th.  She wasn't discovered missing until staff at the facility conducted a routine bed check.

Ms. Purvis wasn't located until several hours later when staff at the facility found her body close to the door she is believed to have exited from.  Despite efforts to resuscitate her, Ms. Purvis was pronounced dead upon arrival at Moses Cone Hospital.  Her death was primarily related to exposure to the freezing temperatures.

An investigation into the incident is underway by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Service.  However, at this time, it is apparent that the facilities failure to equip exterior doors with a device known as a door alarm, allowed Ms. Purvis to exit the facility without the knowledge of the staff.  If the investigation by North Carolina Officials confirms the initial situation, it may face up to $20,000 in fines.

Wandering Cases

Wandering cases involving a death or severe injury to a patient at a nursing home or assisted living facility are a real tragedy simply because most cases could have been prevented with relatively basic safeguards.

When it comes to caring for people with dementia, many of which are able-bodied and active, facilities need to accurately asses if their facility is really capable of caring for them in the first place.  In order to provide a safe atmosphere for dementia and Alzheimer patients facilities need to have:

• Door / Window alarms
• Keep dangerous materials safe guarded
• Have a system to track patients whereabouts
• Train staff regarding how to re-direct patients

Related:

Swallowing Foreign Objects Is No Laughing Matter For Dementia Patients In Nursing Homes

$821,000 Awarded To Family Of Deceased Assisted Living Patient Who Wandered From Facility

State Steps In After Second Episode Involving Patient Elopement At Same Facility

Officials investigate death at assisted-living community, by J. Brian Ewing, News-Record, January 8, 2011

The family of a 75-year-old dementia patient has recovered $821,000 in a recent wrongful death trial against the assisted living facility where she was a resident as well as the facilities parent companies.  The lawsuit alleged that the facility was negligent in looking after the resident who had a history of wandering episodes.  In this case, the resident wandered from the facility in 2007, yet her remains weren't discovered for years. 

Wandering Cases:

Many patients with Alzheimer's and dementia are prone to wander from the facilities--- nursing homes, hospital and assisted living facilities where they reside.  It is the responsibility of the facility to identify people who are prone to wander and implement plans of care to prevent these patients from harming themselves.

Despite the appearance these patients are unhappy with their living arrangements, it is crucial for staff at these facilities to make sure that these patients remain within the safety of the facility.  If a facility can not safely accommodate the needs of the patient, they should suggest that the patient's family locate a suitable living arrangement.

Related:

Ruling against Ore. care facility in woman's death, The Columbian, October 5, 2010

Assisted Living Facilities Need To Re-Evaluate If They Are Capable Of Caring For Dementia Patients

Chicago Nursing Home Lawyer, Jonathan Rosenfeld, Interviewed Regarding Preventing Patients From Wandering

Elderly Woman Wanders From Her Convalescent Home To Her Death

I think its downright scary when facilities fail to learn from their mistakes.  Of course, --- any person, --- any facility can make a mistake one time, but when the same errors are repeatedly made I feel there is well deserved cause for concern.

An episode of a patient wandering from Brentwood Assisted Living facility, would normally not be a particularly noteworthy event--- especially since the eloping woman will hopefully recover from her injuries.  What deservedly brings more attention to this incident is the fact that this was the second patient to wander from this facility this year!

In the most recent occurrence, the Michigan Department of Human Services is investigating the incident in which a 91-year-old woman wandered from the assisted living facility with her walker.  Three days later, the woman was discovered by neighbors in the area at the bottom of a heavily wooded ravine. 

As DHS investigates this incident, just months before the agency investigated a similar incident in which a patients eloped from the facility.  After the agencies investigation, it was revealed that Brentwood: 1) failed to monitor the patient in accordance with their care plan that identified them as being at high risk for eloping and 2) failed to timely notify the patients family of the occurrence.

Patterns of poor care

Of course, episodes of poor care should give rise to concern.  However patterns of poor care really should give rise to alarm both on the part of families who have loved ones at this facility and on the part of the state.

Even though it appears that neither patient involved in these elopement events was injured seriously, I hope that the state recognizes the severity of these lapses in patient care and reprimands the facility accordingly. 

Episodes involving patient elopement and wandering rarely end as well as it did for these patients.  Unfortunately, when patients wander from a nursing home or assisted living facility they are ill-equipped to deal with the world around them.  In our nursing home abuse practice, we have worked on several cases where patients received severe injuries or were killed after they left the safe confines of their facility.

Read more about this case of elopement from an assisted living facility here.

Elopement

Assisted living and nursing home patients with dementia and Alzheimer's are commonly known to elope from their facilities. On admission, the facility should conduct an assessment of the patient (with family if possible) and determine the persons risk level for eloping from the facility.

Once an assessment has been completed, the implementation of simple preventative measures implemented by a facility to assure the patient remains safely at the facility.  Assisted living facilities and nursing homes that care for patients who are at risk for eloping should have the following safeguards in place:

• Door alarms
• Window locks
• Door locks
• Bracelets that track each resident's location
• Hire adequate staff to look after residents
• Have contingent plan to locate patients in the event a resident elopes from the facility

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries

Assisted Living Facilities Need To Re-Evaluate If They Are Capable Of Caring For Dementia Patients

Chicago Nursing Home Lawyer, Jonathan Rosenfeld, Interviewed Regarding Preventing Patients From Wandering From Their Facilities

Three Employees At Assisted Living Facility Disciplined For Their Failure To Report Missing Nursing Home Resident

What Can Nursing Homes Learn From Jails?

Nursing Home Negligence Lawsuit Filed After Man Wandered From West Virginia Facility

I'll never get accustomed to the fact that many elderly will suffer an injury or die due to the carelessness of people who are intended to care for them.  It seems that every few weeks we hear about an elderly person who mysteriously goes missing from a facility and wanders to his or her death.  Despite the frequency, it still outrages me when I hear about such completely preventable situations.

Most recently, I was saddened to hear about the death of 63-year-old Rosemary Nelson who was found dead along the shoulder of the road after wandering from a California convalescent home.  Ms. Nelson's body was discovered three days after she was reported missing from the facility that was responsible for her care.  A medical examiner concluded Ms. Nelson's death was due to 'exposure'

According to a report from Ms. Nelson's family, Ms. Nelson had a history of wandering from facilities and had gone missing from other board-and-care facilities in the past.

Of course its easy to come up with excuses why this elderly woman managed to wander from this skilled nursing facility, yet the reality most certainly remains that someone at the facility was not doing their job when this lady managed to leave undetected.  As a society we must begin to demand that nursing homes begin to look after our elders the same way we expect nursery schools to look after out toddlers.  Until we demand full accountability, we will likely continue to hear about elderly who wandered into a world they are ill equipped to handle.

Read more about this wandering episode involving a California Nursing Home here.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries:

Assisted Living Facility Lets Resident Walk Out The Door & Into Semi

Woman Dies From Hypothermia After Wandering From Assisted Living Facility

Chicago Nursing Home Lawyer, Jonathan Rosenfeld, Interviewed Regarding Preventing Patients From Wandering

What Can Nursing Homes Learn From Jails?

Is it fair to expect an assisted living facility-- loosely regulated entities that help residents with daily living activities to care for a person with Alzheimer's?  

Assisted living facilities (ALF's) are intended to provide a semi-structured environment to (primarily) elderly group.  Meals are prepared and staff are intended to provide residents with daily living activities.  Unlike nursing homes, ALF's are not intended to provide skilled nursing care.

In the case of Alzheimer's patients, many ALF's accept these people despite the fact that many offer no specialized care for them.  Is this a case of corporate greed putting its quest for profits ahead of providing necessary care to its residents?

In the case of Ruby Larson (an Alzheimer's patient), I think the answer is a resounding 'yes'.  On July 23, 2007 Larson wandered from Pheasant Pointe Retirement and Assisted Living Residence-- never to be heard from again.  Last year a judge declared Larson to be legally dead as the search for her was fruitless.

Ms. Larson, 75, was admitted to Pheasant Pointe in May, 2007 suffering from dementia, memory loss, and disorientation.  During the three months Larson was a patient at Pheasant Pointe, she wandered from the facility three separate times.

Larson's family filed a lawsuit against Pheasant Point and its parent company, Spectrum Retirement Communities of Oregon claiming the staff failed to properly supervise Larson and that the companies should have known that Ms. Larson required care only a specialized Alzheimer's care unit could provide.

Unfortunately, Alzheimer's patients may encounter many problems while living in an assisted living environment.  Of course, depending on the individual facility, the levels of care may be different.  But most ALF's are horribly ill-equipped to care for Alzheimer's patient who typically require great care with meals, getting about, re-direction, medication as well as maximum assistance with daily living.

If a facility is unable to provide the level of care required, the facility should advise the family.  Too often, ALF's never mention to the family that their loved one may be better off in a nursing home or alternative facility that specialized in Alzheimer's care.  

Read more about this lawsuit against an assisted living facility here. 

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries

The Truth Revealed: Nursing Home Tries To Cover-up Fact That Resident Choked To Death On Tuna Sandwich 

Nursing Homes For Alzheimer's Patients. What To Look For?

Woman Dies From Hypothermia After Wandering From Assisted Living Facility 

An investigation into the death of a 93-year-old man at a New York assisted living facility revealed that three employees at the facility acted improperly when they failed to document that the man was missing from his room.  Turns out-- the man had either jumped or fallen to his death from his second floor room.  The incident occurred on February 17th at Dosberg Manor, part of the the Weinberg Campus.  The man's dead body was discovered the following day on the ground outside his room.

An investigation into the death by the New York Health Department determined employees at the facility acted improperly in the hours following the man's death.  The following omissions were noted in the department's report:

• At 9:40 that evening an employee was called into the man's room by his roommate to shut an open window.  Despite the fact that the employee noticed the man's glasses and a walker parked adjacent to the open window, the employee failed to look further into the man's whereabouts and lied to investigators about seeing the man in his room.
• At 11:00 p.m. another employee at Dosberg failed to investigate the fact that the man was missing from his room, choosing to assume that man was in a hospital.
• A third employee who made midnight rounds noticed that the man was missing-- yet failed to notify authorities.
• Medical records indicate that staff helped the man take his medication at 6:30 a.m. on February 18th although by that time the man's dead body had been outside for over 11 hours.

As a result of the Department's findings, a new policy has been implemented by Dosberg Manor to ensure the whereabouts of all residents and the employees who were involved in the errors cited above will be disciplined.

Read more about the investigation of this missing nursing home resident here.

Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Posts On Missing Nursing Home Residents

Nursing Home Negligence Lawsuit Claims Sunrise Senior Living Failed To Supervise Resident During Field Trip

What Can Nursing Homes Learn From Jails?

Police Dog Finds Resident Who Went Missing From Chicago Nursing Home

An 87-year-old woman froze to death after walking out of the secured Alzheimer's unit at an Ohio nursing home.  Dortha Gifford was a resident at the Heartland of Woodridge assisted living facility for the last five years.  Gifford lived in the locked unit of the facility because of her propensity to wander. According to Gifford's family, she had gotten out of the assisted living facility on other occasions. 

Why do these tragic themes of missing nursing home residents continue to emerge across the country?  Unfortunately, the answer is not singular.  Nursing homes consistently break the trust families place in them when they fail to:

• Install technology updates (such as automatic locks and alarms) to their facilities that to help contain residents with a propensity to wander.
• Train staff to identify residents who are likely to wander from the facility and how to search for missing residents.
• Provide adequate staffing levels to look after residents.  Many of the wandering incidents occur during 'off' hours when the facility is minimally staffed.

If your loved one has escaped from a nursing home or assisted living facility, the facility is likely responsible.  We have helped many families recover civil damages for the death or injury of their loved one.  More importantly, many of the nursing home cases Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers prosecute have led to safety improvements at many facilities and help ensure the safety of new residents.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Posts On Resident Wandering:

Fall Leaves Dementia Patient With Broken Neck At Assisted Living Facility

Nursing Homes For Alzheimer's Patients.  What To Look For?

Family Sues Florida Nursing Home For Death Of Resident Who Wandered From Facilityy

How Much Freedom Should Assisted Living Facilities Give The Mentally Disabled?

The family of a 68-year-old nursing home resident who wandered from the facility to his death, has filed a nursing home negligence lawsuit.  The family of Antoine Saintil recently filed the lawsuit against Broward Institute For Long Term Care after Antoine want missing from facility on Christmas day.  Search efforts by the facility to find Antoine were unsuccessful.  By the time authorities found Antoine in a waterway, two miles from the facility, he had apparently drowned. 

Antoine Saintil's family faced a difficult decision that many families face every day when they placed him in the Florida nursing home--less than a month prior to his death.  However, the family realized a recent stroke left Antoine disoriented and beyond their ability to care for him. "Because my dad was sick and we didn't want to keep him in the house.  He needed health-care.  He needed someone to help him like doctors, nurses and therapist," said daughter Julie Saintil.

There is no excuse for a nursing home's failure to keep residents who are prone to wandering from leaving the premises of the facility.  Nursing homes that house people, such as Antoine, who are prone to wander or elope should have the following safeguards in place to ensure the safety of each resident:

• Door alarms
• Window locks
• Door locks
• Bracelets that track each resident's location
• Adequate staff to look after residents
• Have contingent plans to locate residents who may wander from the facility

There is no obligation on the part of nursing homes to house every person who seeks out the facility's services.  However, when the nursing home agrees to house a resident who is disoriented or has dementia, the nursing home is implicitly agreeing they are able to properly care for the individual and is responsible for providing proper care.  Read more about this wrongful death lawsuit at this Florida Nursing Home here.

 The Chicago Sun Times reported the sad story of a 72-year-old nursing home resident who wandered 20 feet from the facility to his death.  The man was a resident at Robbins Supportive Living, 13820 South Utica, was last seen by staff at the nursing home on October 22nd.  More than two weeks later, authorities discovered the man dead, laying face down in the marshland, a mere 20 feet from the facility.  

Did this nursing home even bother looking for the missing resident? 

An 81-year-old assisted living resident walked out the front door of the Bluffview Meadows facility in Wisconsin an into the lanes of a nearby highway where she was struck and killed by a semi-truck.  What makes this story particularly tragic is that this is the second incident involving resident elopement with two weeks.  Nursing homes and assisted living facilities must monitor the whereabouts of their residents.  Further, facilities must have adequate safeguards in place such as door alarms, locks and adequate staffing to prevent resident elopement.

'Elopement' is when a nursing home resident leaves the nursing home itself without staff knowledge and gets into harms way. 

Elopement in nursing homes is most common amongst residents who suffer from dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, and who are on medications (psychotropic drugs) that cause confusion.  In order to prevent situations where a resident may elope, it is important for the nursing home to conduct an assessment for every resident.  Assessments should trigger the nursing home staff to take precautions.

If a nursing home resident is determined to be a risk for wandering, the following precautions should be in place:

• Door alarms and bed alarms should be installed and in working order
• Staff should monitor all exits of the long-term facility or nursing home
• Keep at-risk residents close to a nursing station or in a high-traffic area to assure many people on the nursing home staff can look after the resident
• Potentially use physical restraints

Incidents of elopement often occur with residents who are the most vulnerable to injuries.  Below you will find some recent articles referencing injuries that have occurred following elopement.

• 6/16/2008- Minnesota man wanders out of nursing home
• 5/21/2007- The Clayberg fails to secure doors allowing resident to leave facility
• 7/8/2006- Alden-Princeton Nursing Home resident