Long Island Nursing Home Elopement Lawyer

For many seniors with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other conditions that impact their cognitive skills, elopement is a serious risk. Those individuals may make unsafe decisions or get lost as a result of leaving the nursing home. In most cases, nursing homes that care for those seniors have measures in place that protect against elopement, from sealed units to special checks before allowing family members to take them out of the nursing home. However, when those security measures fail, seniors can leave the nursing home, increasing their risk of serious injury. If you have a senior loved one who suffered injuries because they eloped, a Long Island nursing home elopement lawyer could help you pursue compensation. Our nursing home abuse attorneys have the experience you need to file a claim.

The Risks Associated with Elopement

When seniors with Alzheimer’s or dementia elope, they can face serious dangers. Often, they do not realize that their own physical capability has declined or what risks they may face from their environment. As a result, they suffer a substantially increased risk of:

• Fall injuries
• Harsh weather conditions, which may lead to heat stroke, hypothermia, or other devastating conditions
• Getting lost/unable to find their way back, which can lead to exposure, dehydration, malnutrition, or no awareness of where the senior is
• Pedestrian/vehicle accidents

Not only does elopement often cause substantial emotional distress for seniors, but it may also mean increased distress for family members, who may not know where their loved one is.

How Elopement Occurs

Elopement, or wandering away from a nursing home without supervision or authorization, often occurs because of a breakdown in the nursing home’s responsibility to its residents. Common challenges include:

• Inadequate staffing, which means seniors may not receive the supervision and care they need
• Inadequate security, including alarms on exit doors, keys or codes, and monitoring systems
• Improper staff training
• Lack of staff awareness about individual needs
• Failure to assess and plan for the needs of specific residents, including identifying a new risk of elopement or wandering in a senior with cognitive decline

Often, the nursing home will bear liability for elopement when it occurs due to its failure to provide adequate care and supervision for its residents. Seniors with conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia are often more likely to wander when they do not receive adequate care or their basic needs go unmet, which means understaffed or underperforming nursing homes may also fail in their duty to care for those residents. Our Long Island attorneys will review nursing home policies to find the breakdown that led to an elopement.

Compensation for Nursing Home Elopement

Often, seniors who elope do not have the ability to file a claim for themselves due to decreased cognitive capability. However, a family member who has legal power of attorney may have the right to file a claim on their behalf. When injuries from elopement cause the death of a senior, the family may also have the right to file a wrongful death claim.

Compensation for elopement in a nursing home typically includes the cost of the senior’s increased medical needs and their overall suffering. If the senior needs to move to a new facility, that claim can include the increased cost of care and moving expenses. A nursing home elopement lawyer in Long Island could prove essential in laying out those damages.

Contact a Long Island Nursing Home Elopement Attorney

A loved one eloping can cause a great deal of stress and frustration for the family. By working with a Long Island nursing home elopement lawyer, you can decrease your stress while still holding the facility accountable. Contact Duffy & Duffy, PLLC today to start your claim.