Wandering and elopement among nursing home residents is a growing concern throughout the state of Illinois.  Nursing home negligence lawyers state that laws exist requiring nursing home residents to receive adequate supervision to prevent wandering and elopement.  Each resident must have a risk assessment done for wandering.  Lack of a proper plan of care is often a sign of Illinois nursing home neglect.

“Wandering” refers to a resident’s ability to move around the nursing home without regard for personal safety.  Often times, residents who wander are cognitively impaired.  “Elopement” refers to the ability of a resident to leave the nursing home unnoticed and unsupervised.  Elopement can be an extremely dangerous situation.

A nursing home may be found negligent explains a Chicago nursing home abuse attorney if a resident who is incapable of protecting himself or herself from harm wanders or elopes and gets hurt.  The negligence can stem from failing to hire enough staff to properly supervise residents, failing to properly train staff on how to supervise residents or failing to employee alarms and other devices to prevent wandering and elopement.  At times, staff members fail to properly respond to an alarm.

Devices exist that can easily be employed in nursing homes to prevent wandering, elopement and Illinois nursing home neglect.  A chime or buzzer can be installed on a rear door alerting staff members a door was opened.  Many of these simple devices cost only a few dollars.

For more information on wandering or elopement, contact an experienced Chicago nursing home abuse attorney.  All protective measures must be taken to help protect nursing home residents and prevent dangerous situations that can arise from lack of proper supervision.

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