It can be incredibly difficult to watch your parent’s mind go through the slow stages of deterioration. Eventually, this mental decline can reach a point where your parent might begin to walk into dangerous places without being aware, and the risk of injury in those places increases exponentially. In theory, nursing homes are meant to stop this from happening to the people in their care. But when the staff do not pay close enough attention to the residents, someone can easily wander off and end up badly hurt.
If your parent has been injured in a nursing home while wandering off unattended, you may have grounds to file a personal injury claim against the facility. At Nursing Home Injury Center, our Illinois nursing home injury lawyers can help you take action against the facility, fighting for full compensation for your parent’s injuries and other damages resulting from the accident. We will not rest until we have done everything we can to help with your case, conducting a full investigation into the nursing home on your behalf.
Nursing Home Injuries Caused by Wandering
Numerous kinds of injuries and accidents can result from wandering incidents, including:
- Broken bones from falls
- Exposure to the elements, leading to a weakened immune system or dehydration
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Severe distress
Without witness testimony or complete footage, it can be difficult to figure out what exactly caused your parent’s injury. If your parent has been injured in a wandering incident, it is critical that you have his or her injuries checked out as soon as possible. Getting a thorough examination can reveal underlying damage that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
At Nursing Home Injury Center, we will take a closer look at all the details available in your parent’s case to get a complete understanding of his or her injuries and the events that led up to the incident. By accounting for underlying injuries, we can increase the value of your personal injury claim and push for maximum compensation.
Causes of Wandering Accidents in Nursing Homes
When residents with profound mental impairments are left unattended, they may begin to walk off without understanding where they are going or why. The term for a resident wandering out of the nursing home is known as elopement, whereas wandering refers to a resident left unattended and moving around inside the nursing home.
The root cause of many nursing home accidents, including wandering and elopement, is understaffing. When nursing homes do not have enough employees to monitor and assist their residents, it is not unlikely for someone to go somewhere that is not safe. Any resident being unaccounted for for any period of time is an unacceptable error, and nursing homes should be held fully accountable for failing to ensure there are adequate staff members during every shift.
Other elopement accidents can be attributed to poor training. If staff are not properly debriefed on how to monitor residents, the risk of somebody wandering off increases. At Nursing Home Injury Center, we will launch a full investigation to uncover the cause of your parent’s injury.
Liability for Nursing Home Wandering Injuries
Nursing homes can be held liable for injuries to residents caused by negligence. We will fight to get maximum compensation from the nursing home, negotiating for a settlement that fully addresses any damages your parent suffered.
If the nursing home is not willing to pay a settlement outside of court, our firm is well prepared to take your elopement injury claim to trial. The skilled litigators at our firm can help you build a case, arguing for maximum compensation for your damages. Throughout your case, we will fight aggressively to hold the nursing home accountable, refusing to accept excuses or convenient explanations for harmfully negligent conduct.
What Evidence Is Needed for a Nursing Home Injury Claim?
To secure compensation for your parent’s damages, you need to prove that the nursing home was responsible for your loved one’s injury. At Nursing Home Injury Center, we can help you collect all of the available evidence, which may include:
- Security or surveillance camera footage
- Documentation of the injury
- Witness testimony from staff or other residents
- Notes about a resident’s condition
- The nursing home’s reported staff numbers and actual staff
We recognize that you may not have the time or resources to look for proof of negligence. Our lawyers will carry out a thorough investigation on your behalf, building your case on a solid foundation of evidence. We have the resources and experience to look into an elopement claim, analyzing the case from every angle.
Getting Compensation for a Nursing Home Accident
After you file a claim on behalf of your parent, you may be approached by the nursing home’s insurance representative offering a settlement upfront. This may seem like an attractive offer – however, it rarely represents the full amount you deserve, and it is usually an attempt to save money by paying you less than you are entitled to.
To get an estimate for the full worth of your claim, we can take your parent’s damages into account. These damages could include:
- Medical bills, including the costs of surgery and medication
- Pain and suffering
- Reduced quality of life due to the long-term effects of an injury
We will advocate for your parent’s right to a full payout, refusing to accept any lowball offers.
Wrongful Death Claims
Wandering and elopement can put someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s in life-threatening danger. For the more fragile nursing home residents, an accident sustained away from the watchful eyes of orderlies could be fatal.
If your parent died in an accident caused by elopement, you can pursue compensation in a wrongful death claim. In this type of lawsuit, you can be compensated for funeral expenses, end-of-life medical bills, and non-economic damages like grief or a loss of companionship.
The statute of limitations for wrongful death claims is two years, meaning that once two years have passed from the date of your parent’s death, you will no longer be able to take legal action. Our lawyers can take aggressive measures to hold nursing homes accountable for deaths caused by elopement or wandering.
Contact a Peoria County, IL Nursing Home Injury Lawyer
If a resident is allowed to wander out of a nursing home, even for just a few minutes, the consequences can be catastrophic. At Nursing Home Injury Center, our Peoria, IL nursing home neglect attorneys can fight for your family’s right to a fair remedy if your parent is injured due to wandering or elopement. Call us at 309-524-6900 for a free consultation today.
