Wandering
A large percentage of nursing home residents suffer from Alzheimer's or dementia. Both of these conditions can cause elderly people to wander away from their room. In some cases, individuals may even manage to leave the nursing home facility undetected. Nursing Homes must take due care to prevent residents from wandering into unsafe areas to avoid the risk of serious injury or death.
Nursing homes are required to have a designated care plan for residents who have medical conditions which may cause them to wander. Nursing homes should perform a comprehensive assessment to determine whether an admitted resident is at risk for wandering. Risks for wandering include:
- Individuals with dementia or Alzheimer's disease
- Individuals taking medications which cause confusion
- Individuals with a prior history of wandering and/ or forgetting where they are
The nursing home is responsible for instituting safety measure to prevent wandering including:
- Using precautionary devices, such as video monitors in patient rooms, electronic arms on patient beds, and alarms on all exits.
- All exits should be constantly monitored, especially during emergencies when residents could leave unnoticed
- Patients at risk of wandering should be placed in rooms that are close to nursing staff
- Wandering patients should never have access to unsafe areas such as stairwells, poorly lit room, or construction areas.
A nursing home can be found criminally negligent if a resident in an impaired mental state wanders. Nursing homes may be at fault if they fail to properly supervise residents.
If you believe that the Nursing Home where your loved one lives has failed to develop a proper plan of care to prevent them from wandering, please contact our Los Angeles Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys.