Wisconsin Nursing Home Elopement/Wandering Lawyers
A large part of keeping nursing home residents safe and free from injury involves monitoring their activities to ensure that they do not leave the facility. At Aiken & Scoptur in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we help hold nursing home facilities accountable when a patient wanders away because of improper supervision.
At Aiken & Scoptur, we recognize the serious potential for harm and injury when an elderly resident is allowed to wander away from the nursing home. Nursing home residents with dementia or limited physical capabilities can be a danger to themselves when they leave the nursing home unattended. If a nursing home does not have procedures in place to prevent elopements, they may liable for any injuries suffered or wrongful deaths that may occur.
An understaffed nursing home, lack of effective supervision, poor training, or malfunctioning/absent alarms are all factors that encourage elopements by residents. Some residents are prone to wander off due to dementia or a deliberate attempt to escape. Nursing homes must have procedures in place to prevent this from happening. Ignoring risk factors and failing to properly monitor their residents makes nursing homes responsible when an elopement resulting in injury occurs.
If a resident has wandered off the grounds and are then recovered before the family has been notified, the nursing home still has an obligation to let a family member know about the incident. Failure to document the elopement is a negligent action. The nursing home and the family should be alerted about any resident who is prone to wandering away from the facility. This information could be invaluable to prevent a future elopement, and possible future injury.
Nursing homes are responsible for your loved ones once they are left in their care. Nursing homes have a duty to their residents to monitor their actions and prevent injury from happening to them. This includes preventing residents from wandering away from the home.
For more information or to schedule an appointment with an experienced nursing home attorney, please contact Aiken & Scoptur today.
