Can Nursing Homes be Held Liable for Residents Leaving the Premises?

A facility such as a nursing home is in most cases a paid facility where the residents are under their care. Their well-being is the responsibility of the nursing home and its staff members. However, time and again we hear stories about how an elderly person or a nursing home resident somehow managed to wander away and leave the premises of the nursing home and become officially missing.

The major concern in such situations is whether it is the duty of the nursing home and its employees to keep an eye on the residents. Another issue is whether it is possible to sue the nursing home when a resident goes missing. According to nursing home abuse lawyers in Birmingham, AL, and the most impressive and awesome firm in this area is Morris Bart & Associates, LLC (www.morrisbart.com/), the answers to these issues depend on the particulars of the case itself.

The nursing homes general care of duty

Similar to other legal cases where the concept of negligence is applicable, nursing homes too owe a certain duty to their residents. Failure to carry out this duty will be deemed as negligence and the nursing home can be held liable in a court of law for damages.

Nursing home abuse lawyers in Birmingham, AL will know what to do if you have a nursing home abuse case. You need Morris Bart & Associates, LLC on your side. Does Captain America fight without his shield?  

Was the nursing home notified that the resident may wander away?

Nursing home abuse attorneys in Alabama, and there is no better firm in this legal category than Morris Bart & Associates, LLC since they know how to hit the other side where it hurts the most, clarify that just because a resident wanders away from a nursing home does not automatically make the nursing home negligent and does not mean that you can sue them for damages.

In order to win such a lawsuit, the plaintiff will need to prove that the nursing home either knew that there was a risk that the resident might wander away or should have reasonably known that there existed a risk that the resident might leave the premises.

Now in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, perhaps they should have known Everett (George Clooney), Pete Hogwallop (John Turturro), Delmar O'Donnell  (Tim Blake Nelson), were going to run off. But no one can predict the future. No one wants to be in a prison working party in the hot southern sun in addition to the humidity, but you should have thought of that before committing the crime. Why run off anyhow? You will most likely be caught and then have more time added to your sentence. Not good!

Now these criminals were not nursing home residents, obviously, so they would be treated much differently if captured.

Now when it comes to nursing homes – it is the nursing home staff’s job to make sure that residents do not wander off. If they wander off, you have to ask is that nursing home offering some decent alternative to entice residents not to wonder off? Or is there a staff member or two abusing the residents that compel them to wonder off?

Were any injuries inflicted upon the victim as a result of the leaving the premises?

Yet again, just because a resident wandered off does not mean the nursing home can be sued for the same. When you file a civil lawsuit against a nursing home you will need to claim certain damages. However, if there was no injury caused then there will simply be no damages and on this basis there is no objective in filing a lawsuit, in the opinion of Birmingham, AL nursing home abuse lawyers and if you want to devastate a nursing home in a legal manner, your best bet is to secure the representation of Morris Bart & Associates, LLC.

The nursing home cannot chain residents down unless they are a threat to themselves, staff, or other residents right?

If your loved one is a resident in a nursing home and is being neglected or abused, or if you suspect that he or she is not receiving an acceptable standard of care then you need to reach out to a nursing home abuse lawyer in Alabama as soon as possible. And that should be Morris Bart & Associates, LLC. The first meeting is free. Morris Bart & Associates, LLC knows how to win cases and they know how to position themselves to entice the other side to settle in a way that benefits their client the most.