Wandering Nursing Home Patients Require Extra Care

Elderly patients with conditions like Alzheimers disease, dementia and other conditions that can cause memory loss and confusion often have a tendency to wander aimlessly and require extra care and special attention.

If your loved one has been abused or neglected in a nursing home contact one of our skilled nursing home abuse lawyers today to see if you have a case.

Unfortunately, when patients are left unsupervised while in a nursing home their wandering can put them in danger of encountering unsafe conditions within the facility, wandering out of the facility and even falling.

If your loved one was injured while wandering because of negligent nursing home staff, call a personal injury attorney from PKSD at  414-333-3333 to discuss your legal rights.

It is the responsibility of the nursing home facility to know where its patients are at all times and to monitor them for safety. For patients with memory loss and other cognitive impairments, it is especially important that their whereabouts are continually monitored to prevent wandering.

This population can often forget where they are. Out of anxiety brought on from the unknown, they may begin to wander trying to find a familiar place that will jog their memory. Unfortunately, often their memory does not return and they cannot find that familiar place, leaving them wandering endlessly.

Often elderly patients who wander encounter dangerous hazards if they are not under the proper supervision. They could wander into stair wells, restricted areas, construction zones, areas with wet floors and even out of the facility into traffic.

Wandering and the injuries that often result are easily preventable by responsible nursing home facilities. It is best not to prevent the act of wandering through restraint, but to rather allow it to happen while monitoring the patient closely.

In the event that a patient is harmed because they were wandering without supervision, the facility that was charged with their care can be held responsible for their negligent actions.

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