Georgia Elopement and Wandering Nursing Home Lawyers You Can Trust
Protecting your loved one from preventable dangers
When families entrust a nursing home with their loved one’s care, they expect safety and supervision to be a top priority. Yet for residents with dementia, Alzheimer’s, or other cognitive impairments, the risk of wandering or elopement can be life-threatening. Sadly, many incidents occur due to cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. When nursing homes fail to take proper precautions, it can lead to devastating consequences such as injuries, exposure, or even death.
At Johnson Greer Law Group, we understand how frightening and stressful these situations can be for families. Our Georgia nursing home attorneys are here to guide you, offer compassionate support, and help hold facilities accountable when neglect puts your loved one at risk. You don’t have to navigate this alone, we stand with families every step of the way.
What is elopement, and why does it happen?
Wandering occurs when residents move about the facility without proper supervision. While it may seem harmless at first, wandering can quickly lead to falls, missed medications, or getting lost. Elopement is more serious, it’s when a resident leaves the building or facility grounds unsupervised. This often happens when staff fail to monitor exits, alarms, or residents known to be at risk. Common reasons elopement and wandering happen include:
- Cognitive conditions such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or memory loss
- Inadequate supervision due to staff being overworked or inattentive
- Faulty or ignored safety measures, like broken door alarms or unlocked exits
- Understaffing, which leaves residents unchecked for long periods of time
The dangers of elopement and wandering
When a resident leaves a nursing home unnoticed, they are vulnerable to dangers that most families may not immediately consider. Without proper supervision, even a short walk outside the facility can quickly turn into a medical emergency or worse. A resident who leaves unnoticed can suffer from:
- Exposure to extreme weather (heatstroke, hypothermia)
- Traffic accidents, if they wander into roadways
- Serious injuries or falls due to a lack of supervision and assistance
- Dehydration or malnutrition, if gone for long periods
- Increased confusion, fear, or trauma from being lost and alone
In the worst cases, elopement can lead to wrongful death, something no family should ever have to endure, especially when it was preventable.
Preventing wandering and elopement
Nursing homes have a duty to protect residents from known risks. Preventing wandering isn’t just about locking doors, it requires careful planning, individualized care, and consistent staff training to ensure residents remain safe. Families have a right to expect that facilities take proactive measures to safeguard those in their care. Steps they should take include:
- Conducting individualized risk assessments for residents with memory issues
- Installing and maintaining door alarms and secure exits
- Ensuring adequate staff supervision, especially for high-risk residents
- Creating safe wandering paths for residents who benefit from movement
- Training staff to recognize warning signs of elopement behavior
When a facility fails to take these measures, it’s not just neglect, it’s a breach of trust.
Johnson Greer Law Group is here for your family
If your loved one has wandered off or eloped from a nursing home, your family has every right to demand answers. At Johnson Greer Law Group, we know how frightening and heartbreaking these situations can be. We’ve seen firsthand the devastation caused by poor supervision and understaffed facilities, and we’re committed to holding negligent nursing homes accountable.
Our team of experienced nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers takes the time to understand your family’s story and investigates the facility’s failures, whether that means uncovering broken safety systems, a lack of monitoring, or insufficient staffing. With compassion and determination, we fight to protect the vulnerable and give families the justice they deserve.
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Contact us today to get started.