Wyoming residents with family members who live in nursing homes may want to follow a case pending in another state. Patient safety is a top priority and loved ones often worry whether their elderly family members are receiving quality care in facilities in this state and across the country. One family is concerned that nursing home negligence may have caused their elderly loved one’s death.
The 90-year-old woman, who had Alzheimer’s disease, was found dead on a bench outside the nursing home where she lived. Such news would be troubling enough for a family; yet, the woman’s loved ones became further disturbed as they learned the details of the events that led to the startling discovery. The special needs patient had reportedly been involved in an argument with a nursing home employee not long before she died.
While staff members were undoubtedly aware of the woman’s medical condition, they are said to have allowed her to go outdoors alone to “cool down” after the argument. Preliminary investigations show that a staff member had checked on the woman at 3 a.m. but there is no record of supervision after that. Sadly, a maintenance worker discovered the woman’s lifeless body on a bench at approximately 11 a.m. — she was partially nude.
It seems unfathomable that an elderly Alzheimer’s patient would be allowed to go outside alone at night. The temperature was approximately 26 degrees during the night in question. The woman’s family members said pet owners know enough to bring animals in from the cold, yet their loved one was left outside alone in freezing weather. Situations like this often lead to nursing home negligence lawsuits in Wyoming when families of those who have died seek legal accountability against those deemed responsible for their loved ones’ deaths.
