Who is at fault for elopement?

[muggs]

Recently at my facility (ALF) a resident eloped and the overnight nurse was fired for it. We have resident aides that are supposed to do rounds every 4 hours. The front door to the facility is locked to people coming in but not going out. So is it the fault of the nurse since they are the supervisor, the aides because they are supposed to be watching the residents or the facility director for not having the proper precautions put in place?

[LlamaLlamaMamaJamaac]

I would need to know more information to say.  My grandmother eloped in upper Midwest Winter (sadly died of hypothermia) — she had dementia.  She got out sometime between the 20:00 and 22:00 CNA rounds, which from my experience I know each round can take the better part of 2 hours, so nobody sitting around eating bonbons 

The door alarm had malfunctioned.  So in her case it was clearly not the fault of the staff...  The building had not been adequately maintained 

That could be the case here but I can't say.  I also can't tell if the RN or CNAs were working in a negligent manner—or if they were doing the best they could.  
 

 

[muggs]

 

I am very sorry to hear that about your grandmother, that's terrible.

 

Form my understanding of it the nurse walks around the building every hour, not into residents rooms like the aides are supposed to but still looking and listening for anything out of the ordinary, and on the security footage the nurse was seen walking through the main lobby 10-15 minutes before the resident went out the main doors. The aides may or may not have been sleeping,  From what I've gathered they told the directors that the nurse lets them sleep in various spots which I find highly unlikely and most likely just trying to cover their own butts. I've worked with this nurse for a while and can't see that being the case.. The aides must not have been doing rounds as they should though because the resident was oof until the morning when the manager of the store right down the road called and told the day nurse he was there.

[JKL33]

If the resident is considered "eloped" as opposed to a resident who has the faculties to come and go as they please, then it stands to reason (or there is a very good chance) that the resident was an elopement risk before this incident.  Routine rounds does not sound like a reasonable level of care to keep tabs on someone who is an elopement risk. It sounds like a situation where the resident's level of care was not appropriate for the resident's needs.

I suspect that is the basic problem; the rest is just pointing fingers after something has gone wrong.