Personal Injury Law

Protecting Nursing Home Residents Who Wander

By Beth Janicek

An editorial in the Bergen Record discussed the dangers of nursing home residents who wander from nursing homes. A resident at county-run Preakness Healthcare Center in Wayne, NJ, wandered out of the nursing home in subfreezing weather and was found more than two hours later. The resident, who uses a walker and who suffers from dementia, was found roaming in the snow and ice wearing just a golf shirt, pants, and shoes. Mr. Mojica was transported to St. Joseph's Wayne Hospital to be treated for exposure to the cold.

An employee at the Preakness Healthcare Center said that Mojica had to climb down three flights of stairs with his walker to escape the building, and that this is the second resident to wander away from the nursing home since it opened in October.

Residents wandering away from nursing homes occur more than you would think, and oftentimes they have devastating results. There are safeguards that every facility caring for the elderly should take. I have found most nursing homes use the Wanderguard System. This system is designed for the patients to wear a band on their arm or leg that will lock the door or sound the alarm when the resident is close to the door. These systems are only as good as the individuals who operate them. I have handled several of these cases where the residents is required to be wearing the band but is still able to wander out of the nursing home and get injured. On occasion the staff may turn the system off or remove the band from the patient. Regardless, the nursing homes should be equipped to determine who is coming and going from the facility even without these systems.

Full post as published by San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer on December 30, 2009 (boomark / email).