Mentally Disabled Patient Drowns in Nursing Home Shower

Case Overview

Questions to the Geriatrics expert and their responses

What is your experience with situations such as the one mentioned above?

I have considerable experience working at long term care facilities, specifically those caring for mentally disabled patients.

should the patient have been monitored more closely?

It is certainly a breach in the standard of care to have allowed the woman to bathe on her own, given her declining ability to handle activities of daily living on her own. The staff would be required to request a revision to the patients orders by a licensed physician - they are not allowed to simply make up rules as they see fit.

About the expert

This highly qualified expert is an actively practicing, board-certified geriatrics specialist who has held several clinical and administrative appointments throughout his 30+ year medical career. He also holds memberships in such prestigious professional societies as the American Geriatrics Society and the American Medical Association. These strong qualifications make him capable of reviewing the case at hand.