Bullying Aides?
Posted by Patti on August 22nd, 2007 / Print This Post
If these allegations, as they stand now, are true, I hope these aides get the full book of punishments thrown at them.
GIRARD — Nurse’s aides, described as bullies in a state investigator’s report, allegedly spent months tormenting nursing-home residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other mental impairments.The incidents at Pleasant Hill Village, described in a Feb. 21 report by investigators from the Illinois Department of Public Health, have resulted in a $25,000 fine, Public Health spokeswoman Kimberly Parker said Tuesday. The nursing home is challenging the fine.
Girard police also are investigating the accusations and will forward information in a few months to the Macoupin County state’s attorney for possible criminal charges, Girard police Sgt. Harold Gist said.
Police are focusing on the actions of two nurse’s aides, both of whom have been fired. A third aide also has been fired, apparently because she is believed to have witnessed the incidents but didn’t immediately report the conduct to her supervisors.
What are the allegations?
Among allegations outlined by the state report:# Nurse’s aides held an alarm next to a resident’s ear to discourage her from getting up when they didn’t want her to get up.
# Aides poked a resident with a safety pin because the resident would constantly try to get out of her wheelchair to go to the bathroom or to bed. To avoid that treatment, the resident started to avoid activities and began to stay in bed all day.
# One of the aides grabbed a resident’s injured arm and asked “Does this hurt?” and the resident responded, “Don’t do that.”
# Aides took personal belongings as a way of punishing one resident.
# Aides made residents take showers against their will.
# Aides restrained one man by holding his arms behind his back and bending back his fingers.
Sickening, if true.
September 2nd, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Interesting choice of terms. Bully? While the alleged activities don’t fall under our usual variety of abusive actions, they are a form of abuse.I wouldn’t call it bullying though- because that lessons the meaning of such things.
September 5th, 2007 at 9:12 am
It’s psychological abuse for sure mixed with some physical. Very sad if true. Where do we get such people to work in this field who seek to control others like this?