If your parent, grandparent, or other relative is a patient at a nursing home, you expect the nursing home to keep your loved one safe and secure in their room – or at least within the facility. Especially with certain conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia, nursing home patients wandering off is unfortunately common.
If your loved one is missing, the nursing home should take steps to bring them back, but you can take action yourself. Then, call a lawyer; there may be negligence on the nursing home’s part that could entitle you and your loved one to compensation. You may also want to consider setting up systems to deter future issues, potentially including moving your loved one to a different facility.
Call our Columbia, SC nursing home abuse lawyers in South Carolina today at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers at (803) 451-4000 today.
What to Do When a Nursing Home Patient Wanders Off
Nursing home patients might wander within the facility or outside, potentially getting lost or otherwise becoming unable to return to their room or bed. When this happens, there are steps you can take immediately:
Alert the Facility
They should have processes and procedures in place for exactly these kinds of issues. It is often their responsibility to find your loved one, bring them back safely, and assess the problems that led to the patient leaving so they can take reasonable steps to prevent future elopements.
Call the Police
South Carolina has special policies through the Endangered Person Notification System (EPNS) designed to help locate and return missing people who have cognitive impairment, dementia, Alzheimer’s, or other issues that make them vulnerable. Cities might also have special systems in place, like Columbia’s “A.C.E. Services” (Assisting Columbia’s Elderly) to identify and return people as part of their “Wandering Adult Service.”
Take Notes and Make Records
Getting information about the last time your loved one was seen, what they were doing, whether any altercations with staff occurred, and any other conditions can help you and investigators locate and safely return your loved one. This info can also help with any potential legal cases.
Start a Search
After giving the facility and the police your contact info, you can drive around and try to locate your loved one yourself. Take care when approaching them, especially if they are known to be aggressive or have significant memory issues that might cause them not to remember you or to feel unsafe.
Get them Home Safely
If your loved one needs medical attention or special transportation, make sure to use that when returning them to their facility. If that facility is unsafe, see if you can keep them at the hospital or another safe location (e.g., your home) while you arrange a move to another nursing facility.
If they were the victim of a crime before or while wandering, make sure to report this to the authorities.
Nursing Home Liability for Wandering/Eloping Residents
If a nursing home resident wanders off, it could lead to a lawsuit for negligence against the nursing home. However, some requirements must be met:
Duty
The nursing home must have a duty to the patient or to you before you can hold them responsible for violating that duty. Some issues depend on the type of facility and the expected level of freedom for the residents.
For example, in many assisted living facilities, residents may be expected to come and go of their own accord, making it harder to stop them or to know the difference between a wandering resident and a resident going out on errands. You may want to consider moving your loved one to a higher level of care if they need more monitoring and to be kept from leaving the facility.
Breach
The nursing home can only be held liable if it made mistakes that violated their duty. For example, if they knew the resident was at risk of eloping but failed to take additional steps, or even knowingly let them go, they could be liable.
They might also be liable for failing to institute reasonable steps and plans to return the resident once they knew they left.
Causation
The nursing home’s mistakes must be the thing that actually caused your loved one’s injuries or harms. When an elderly adult elopes from a facility and is subject to crimes or assault, this might still be caused by the nursing home’s negligence, even if the actual actions were someone else’s intentional choice.
In any case, our South Carolina nursing home abuse lawyers will need to collect evidence to prove this causal link.
Damages
The elderly adult needs to have actually faced harm or injuries for you to sue. If they were found tired but safe on the nursing home property, it is unlikely that you have a case – but you should still take steps to prevent future elopement where something worse could happen.
Setting Up a Plan for the Future
Many local police departments have lists you can put your loved one on if they are at a high risk of wandering off. This allows the police to respond appropriately, notify you, and return them home if they are ever found wandering.
Depending on your loved one’s mental state and conditions, you may want to consider scheduling a meeting with their nursing home staff and brainstorming ways to work together to keep them safe, such as placing recognizable landmarks outside their room or increasing monitoring.
In some cases, you may need to move your loved one to a facility that specializes in dementia and Alzheimer’s if their current nursing home is not equipped to handle their level of care.
FAQs About Eloping Nursing Home Residents in South Carolina
Can You Sue the Nursing Home?
If they made mistakes or failed to follow requirements to keep your loved one safe, and your loved one was injured while eloping, you may have a case against the nursing home.
Does This Apply to Every Nursing Home?
The term “nursing home” is broad, and the duties placed on the specific facility depend a lot on the expected level of care and the specifics of the case. If your loved one is free to go at will, it might be harder to blame an assisted living facility for letting your loved one leave the property unless they had prior knowledge that it was unsafe or that your loved one often gets lost or confused.
Can The Police Help?
Local police in South Carolina often have systems in place to help locate and return wandering elderly adults and dementia/Alzheimer’s patients. Check with them to set up a response plan if these services are available in your area.
Call Our Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in South Carolina Today
Call Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers at (803) 451-4000 for a free case review with our Lexington, SC nursing home abuse attorneys.
