(Note: This post is a continuation of yesterday’s post called “Wandering Seniors.”)
If your elderly parents have a tendency to wander, you are probably looking for different ways to keep them safe and secure. Nursing home walk-aways do occur, especially with seniors who have dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or other conditions that cause confusion and disorientation.
There are many things that both the family and the residential caregivers can do to prevent nursing home wanderings and injuries.
A key to preventing senior wandering is knowing whether your relative has the propensity for walking off or wandering. Do they easily get bored? Are they often agitated? Do they get restless or pace? These are all signs that your loved one may be susceptible to wandering.
Nursing Home Safety and Senior Wandering Prevention
- Ensure the nursing home has warning bells or wander-prevention devices that alert staff when a door or window is opened.
- Loosely cover the door knobs to make opening more difficult for the elderly.
- Disguise doors with curtains, removable screens, or painting them the same as the walls.
- Install a pressure sensitive mat at the door of the person’s room that sounds an alarm if the person leaves the room.
- Have round-the-clock supervision.
- Do not have car keys or bus tokens readily available. Make the resident have to ask for them.
- Review the facility to ensure that all the alert mechanisms work and that staff have not propped open a door to smoke which would allow your senior access to escape from the facility.
If your parent or loved one has suffered a serious injury as a result of a senior wandering incident, consult a nursing home attorney right away! You’ll want to ask critical questions such as: how long have you been practicing law; do you have experience with senior wandering cases; how many cases have you won?
To review part 1 of this post again, click here.
Wandering seniors is a large problem for nursing homes. Wandering can occur if an elderly person gets confused or feels like walking and leaves the nursing home without the knowledge of the staff.
This can be extremely dangerous if they have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Often, the senior doesn’t know where they are and doesn’t know how to get back to the home. Some elderly nursing home residents have died because of wandering off and suffering from the elements.
In New York, the Department of Health goes so far as to send out a letter every so often (most recently in April 2008) reminding officials at residential facilities to increase their awareness of elderly residents wandering.
The letter states that spring increases the incidence of wandering for various reasons, including nicer weather and increase of visitors to the nursing home.
Some risk factors for senior wandering include:
- The senior has been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease
- The senior has an illness that can cause confusion
- The senior has a previous history of departing their home or another nursing home without supervision
- The senior has a propensity to roam without intention or direction
- The senior has a history of depression or a family history of depression
- The senior is not happy at the nursing home or has trouble adjusting to new surroundings
- The senior has trouble seeing or hearing
- The senior feels abandoned by their family and friends
Elderly abuse laws can be complicated and vary from state to state. It is important to speak with an attorney who specializes in walking away claims before making any hasty decisions about the care your relative has received in a nursing home.
Update: Part 2 of this blog post is available here.
A nursing home is where loved ones turn when an elderly relative requires more care than is available at home. Perhaps they have a medical condition or simply need to be watched 24/7 and you don’t have the time or the medical knowledge to devote to that kind of care.
During these circumstances, most people put their trust in nursing homes and residential care centers to provide safety and attention for their loved one. The nursing home caregivers are accustomed to dealing with elderly people with various medical conditions and providing the care that they need.
However, in some instances, there is nursing home neglect or inattention that leads to personal injury or death.
Such is the case of Maria Cobian, 94, who wandered out of her nursing home even though she was wearing a bracelet designed to alert staff when she left the facility. As she wandered in the middle of the night, she was struck by a car and died on Thanksgiving 2007.
This is not the only suspicious incident at that facility – Palomar Heights Care Center in San Diego, Calif. Another resident died in 2006 as a result of smoking while wearing his oxygen tank. According to a new story on 10News.com, the nursing home was issued citations by the State Department of Health in both instances.
If your loved one has experienced nursing home abuse, nursing home neglect, or injuries/death from a wandering incident, contact a personal injury lawyer or nursing home attorney right away to evaluate your case.
When selecting a personal injury attorney you’ll want to ask critical questions such as: how long have you been practicing law; do you have experience with elderly care and nursing home cases; what is the biggest settlement or verdict you have won?
