Most recently, I was saddened to hear about the death of 63-year-old Rosemary Nelson who was found dead along the shoulder of the road after wandering from a California convalescent home. Ms. Nelson’s body was discovered three days after she was reported missing from the facility that was responsible for her care. A medical examiner concluded Ms. Nelson’s death was due to ‘exposure’
According to a report from Ms. Nelson’s family, Ms. Nelson had a history of wandering from facilities and had gone missing from other board-and-care facilities in the past.
Of course its easy to come up with excuses why this elderly woman managed to wander from this skilled nursing facility, yet the reality most certainly remains that someone at the facility was not doing their job when this lady managed to leave undetected. As a society we must begin to demand that nursing homes begin to look after our elders the same way we expect nursery schools to look after out toddlers. Until we demand full accountability, we will likely continue to hear about elderly who wandered into a world they are ill equipped to handle.
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Related Nursing Home Law Center LLC Blog Entries:
Assisted Living Facility Lets Resident Walk Out The Door & Into Semi
Woman Dies From Hypothermia After Wandering From Assisted Living Facility