3 Nurses Charged W/Criminal Neglect
Posted by Patti on January 25th, 2006 / Print This Post
This is horrible. How can any nurse discharge a resident with feet in the condition described here? Without ever notifying a doctor or family? Didn’t they do a discharge assessment and summary?
Madison County prosecutors want to take a pretrial deposition of an 82-year-old man named as the victim in a case of neglect at a Collinsville nursing home because his health might deteriorate.Prosecutors filed a motion last week seeking permission to take a deposition of Albert Chambers, who authorities say had to have a leg amputated because he did not receive proper care and attention at Collinsville Care Center.
Normally, testimony for a criminal case in Illinois has to be given at a trial, in a courtroom. But a state law that went into effect in 2004 allows victims in cases of elder abuse to give testimony through a deposition without having to appear in court. The deposition can then be read later to a jury, or, if it’s videotaped, shown to a jury.
A motion filed by prosecutors Calvin B. Fuller and Alli Tolliver states: “It is a realistic possibility that Albert Chambers’ health may quickly deteriorate.” Prosecutors did not elaborate.
Chambers would be subject to cross-examination by defense attorneys during the deposition.
Circuit Judge Charles Romani Jr. has not yet set a date for a hearing on the prosecutors’ motion.
Three nurses — Linda Dellamano, 51, of Collinsville; Patricia Revelle, 35, of Glen Carbon; and Rose Revelle, 69, of Glen Carbon — were charged in December with criminal neglect of Chambers.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the nursing home failed to notify the patient’s family and doctor of his complaints of foot and heel pain during his two-week stay at the home. When he was discharged and brought home on Jan. 10, 2005, the sock was removed from his left foot, revealing toes that were bloody and black.
Chambers was taken to a hospital, where his left leg was amputated above the knee seven days later.
The Department of Public Health fined the 115-bed nursing home $10,000. The nursing home has had no other major violations of state regulations in the past three years, according to department records.
The nurses are free on $500 bail. They could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Messages left for the administrator of the nursing home were not immediately returned. Prosecutors in December said Dellamano no longer works at the nursing home. It could not be determined Tuesday whether the Revelles still work there.
February 25th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
this is sad
March 3rd, 2006 at 5:08 am
Unfortunately foot care is often neglected and this is the result. i took care of a gentleman, in-home, who broke his hip and was in a nursing home for rehab. His positioning wasnt changed often enough and as a result he ended up with a HUGE pressure sore on his heel that took months to heal. They even discharged him with a dressing on the heel, that hadnt been changed in 2 days. I felt just awful because having worked in nursing homes mostly, it left a bad impression when nursing homes already have such a bad rep to begin with. Now in my present job, I find myself seeing similiar things and I just dont know what the answer is. I think that new CNA’s dont always fully realize how important good foot care is to these people.