Wandering and Elopement

People who reside in nursing homes often suffer from memory loss and cognitive decline. As such, what may be a harmless stroll for a person in good health can be a dangerous venture for many nursing home residents, and wandering and elopement are two of the main causes of incurred injuries. If you or your loved one suffered harm at a nursing home, the skillful Cape Cod personal injury attorneys of the Law Offices of John C. Manoog, III, can assist you in pursuing damages from the parties responsible for your losses. Collectively, we have over fifteen decades of experience helping people aggrieved by negligent nursing homes seek compensation for their harm, and we will diligently pursue any damages you may be owed. Our aggressive representation has allowed us to help many of our clients recover multi-million dollar damages awards.

Many people reside in nursing homes because they are unable to safely care for themselves. While some people in nursing homes have physical impairments, it is also true that many suffer from dementia or cognitive or neurological diseases that affect their ability to recognize time or space. As such, they must be prevented from entering into certain areas of the nursing home where they are likely to suffer harm without supervision. Care must also be taken to prevent nursing home residents from eloping, or leaving, a nursing home. Nursing homes should make sure they have an adequate number of staff members to supervise the residents and to secure the premises, and that all staff members are thoroughly trained. Nursing homes can also prevent issues by making sure there are sufficient locks on doors that lead to areas residents should not access and alarms that notify them when a resident attempts to enter into an unsafe area.

Nursing home residents that wander or elope are more likely to suffer falls, which can lead to fractures, brain injuries, and hemorrhages. Additionally, it may take several hours or even days before a nursing home resident has left the nursing home is found, which can result in dehydration, malnutrition, and in some instances, death.

Generally, an action seeking damages from a nursing home for injuries a resident has suffered will allege that the nursing home or its staff members acted negligently. In Massachusetts, a plaintiff alleging a negligence claim against a nursing home must show that the nursing home had a duty of care and that the nursing home breached the duty, which resulted in the resident’s harm. Broadly, the duty of care owed by nursing homes is the duty to prevent a resident from suffering harm.

Usually, a plaintiff will need to engage an expert to testify as to the standard of care that applies to nursing homes, and the measures nursing homes should take to prevent injuries or harm to residents. In many instances, a nursing home will argue that the harm suffered by a resident did not arise out of the resident’s entering restricted areas or leaving the nursing home, but was instead caused by a preexisting illness or condition. Thus, a medical expert may also be needed to causally link the resident’s harm to the nursing home’s negligence.

Nursing homes have a duty to protect the health of their residents, which includes preventing residents from wandering and elopement. If you or someone you love suffered injuries while at a nursing home, you may be owed damages and should speak to a lawyer. The trusted attorneys of the Law Offices of John C. Manoog, III, are adept at helping people identify signs of negligence [link signs of negligence to signs of nursing home negligence page] and prove nursing homes should be held responsible for their careless acts, and we will fight tirelessly to help you seek the full compensation recoverable under the law. We proudly maintain a record of successful outcomes, including many verdicts that exceed one million dollars. We represent people in lawsuits arising out of nursing home negligence on Cape Cod and are available to meet by consultation in Plymouth and Hyannis. You can contact us via our online form or at (888) 262-6664 to schedule a meeting. Nós Falamos Português.