Nursing Home Elopement & Wandering
Highly Skilled Malpractice Lawyer | PA · NJ
Bedsores · Wrongful Death · Medication Errors · Nursing Home Falls
Serving all of New Jersey & Pennsylvania including Philadelphia & Bucks Counties
Lack of Supervision Has Its Consequences
Many elderly nursing home residents commonly suffer from Alzheimer’s, dementia, and periodic confusion or forgetfulness. Residents afflicted with such conditions often become disoriented and, as a result, are at high risk of wandering from supervising nurses, eloping, or departing the nursing home.
Philadelphia / Pennsylvania and New Jersey nursing homes are responsible for making sure any nursing home residents at risk of wandering or eloping are closely supervised. If they are not and they wander and/or elope from the facility and injured, nursing home neglect has occurred, and the nursing home is fully responsible for any resulting injuries.
In addition to supervising impaired residents, nursing home care providers have the responsibility to continuously evaluate, assess, and monitor nursing home residents at risk of wandering or eloping. When a resident exhibits a lack of appreciation for his or her surroundings and safety, the monitoring and supervision of that individual must be increased. If it is not and an injury occurs, it is typically a result of nursing home neglect.
What Is Nursing Home Elopement & Wandering?
Wandering and elopement are the terms used to describe the movement of cognitively-impaired nursing home residents within and outside a nursing home facility.
Wandering occurs when a cognitively-limited nursing home resident is allowed to move about the nursing home without a purpose and without an appreciation for his or her own personal safety. When a nursing home resident with such impairment is allowed to wander about the facility without proper supervision, incidents and accidents often occur.
There are any number of places within a Philadelphia / PA or NJ nursing home where disoriented residents can wander and cause themselves harm. Some common locations include kitchens, bathrooms, stairwells, roofs, walk-in refrigerators, and supply closets. In such instances, if an injury occurs, it is most likely due to insufficient supervision of the injured individual.
Elopement occurs when a cognitively-impaired nursing home resident, who is not capable of understanding safety issues, exits a nursing home unsupervised. Eloping nursing home residents often find themselves in very harmful and dangerous situations.
Eloping nursing home residents often suffer a range of injuries from fractures, sprains, and strains to head injuries, severe frostbite, malnutrition, dehydration and death. Like wandering, the common cause of elopement at Pennsylvania (including Philadelphia) and New Jersey nursing homes is a failure by staff to sufficiently supervise and monitor the residents.
How Understaffing Enables
Nursing Home Elopement & Wandering
An understaffed nursing home in Pennsylvania (especially Philadelphia) and New Jersey is far more likely to have incidents of wandering and elopement than adequately staffed facilities. Often, in order to keep nursing home costs down and profits up, the nursing home owners of these local facilities all over NJ and PA, including Philadelphia intentionally and significantly cut nursing staff levels. This compromises the quality of care provided and jeopardizes the well-being of the residents. Under such circumstances, it is significantly easier for a confused or disoriented nursing home resident to wander or elope from a nursing home.
A Seasoned Malpractice Attorney
Brian P. Murphy is an experienced and well-regarded New Jersey and Pennsylvania nursing home malpractice attorney. He has successfully represented many elderly nursing home residents subjected to abuse and neglect throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania, consistently winning favorable settlements.
Abuse and neglect in nursing homes is a complex area of the law. You need an experienced nursing home attorney to answer your questions and offer you guidance in moving forward. Attorney Murphy has been filing lawsuits against New Jersey and Pennsylvania nursing homes (including Philadelphia) since 2006. Mr. Murphy knows which questions will get directly to the issues you are concerned about. He is fully familiar with all the signs and symptoms of nursing home injuries, including abuse and neglect. He can help you identify and put a stop to your loved one’s abuse or neglect. See what Mr. Murphy’s prior clients have to say about him.
In Pennsylvania, Mr. Murphy files nursing home lawsuits from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. He also files suits throughout New Jersey. Mr. Murphy has been very successful in litigating claims against PA and NJ nursing homes and earned millions of dollars in compensation for his clients.
If you see signs of nursing home neglect and/or abuse, please schedule one of the firm’s free consultations today. Contact Nursing Home Abuse Attorney, Brian P. Murphy, to discuss your potential legal matter.
Legal matters are billed on a contingency fee basis. All nursing home lawsuits (Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, and New Jersey) are personally handled by Brian Murphy.
This website is owned by The Law Firm of Brian P. Murphy, PC. Its purpose is to assist you in understanding your rights, especially when it comes to preventing or protecting yourself and/or your loved ones against nursing home failures, such as abuse, neglect, bedsores, dehydration, malnutrition, malpractice, and wrongful death.
Nothing on this website is to be construed as attorney advice or otherwise creating an attorney-client relationship. If you may be interested in establishing a relationship with The Law Firm of Brian P. Murphy, PC, please contact us to discuss your options.