Nursing Home Abuse

Abusive Nursing Home Employee Confesses to Punching Resident

April 10, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, a Michigan man was arrested and charged with Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult for the alleged abuse of a nursing home resident at the home where he worked. According to a local Michigan news report, the resident suffered from dementia and had only been at the nursing home facility for six days before the abuse occurred.

Evidently, the abusive employee became frustrated with the Alzheimer’s patient and began to get violent. In fact, the employee recently confessed to “punching, pushing, [and] sitting on [the resident] five times during his shift of March 11, 2015 when he was agitated with [the resident].” The abuse resulted in deep purplish-blue bruises on the resident’s back, chest, chin and torso. The abusive employee faces up to two years in prison as a maximum sentence.

According to the article mentioned above, the very same nursing home was fined almost $15,000 just two years ago for several incidents, including the death of one patient who allegedly didn’t receive CPR when he should have.

Maryland Assisted Living Home Caretaker Charged in Abuse Case

April 3, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A 26-year-old Ellicott City assisted-living caretaker has been charged with abusing a 93-year-old Alzheimer’s patient who was under her care. According to a prominent Baltimore newspaper, the woman was arrested for abuse of a vulnerable adult and second-degree assault. Evidently, the victim’s family had certain suspicions regarding the care that their family member was receiving and set up a hidden camera in his room to verify their concerns.

The video footage shows the caretaker hitting the man several times by striking him across his arms and torso. The disturbing footage also shows the caretaker pushing him several times. This abuse resulted in several bruises. After viewing the footage, the family immediately contacted Howard County police. The officers arrested the woman at her home, and she is currently released on bail.

Common Signs of Nursing Home Abuse

In the above case, it was fortunate that the man had family members who were concerned about his well-being and were able to notice the signs of abuse. Unfortunately, in many of these cases the victim is so ill and frail that they are often unable to notify anyone of the abuse they are suffering. This can result in serious injuries and even in the death of a patient. There are some signs that families can look for that may indicate that their loved one is being abused.

Man Acquitted for Charges of Nursing Home Abuse, Civil Case Still Possible

February 20, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Illinois, a jury heard a criminal case against a man charged with aggravated battery after his involvement in alleged nursing home abuse. According to one local Illinois news report, the man was acquitted of all charges after the jury deliberated for 90 minutes.

Evidently, the man was charged with aggravated battery after he allegedly struck a 64-year-old nursing home resident in June of last year. The prosecution put up an eyewitness to the alleged abuse that testified that she saw the defendant strike a resident with a closed fist and then heard the resident ask why he was being hit. The resident began crying after he was hit by the defendant.

However, the credibility of the eyewitness was called into question by the defense, since apparently the defendant had turned down sexual advances from the eyewitness not long before the instance of abuse was reported.

Former Nursing Home Employee Faces Criminal Charges for Alleged Abuse

February 6, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, a young man faced criminal charges for the alleged abuse of a nursing home resident back in October of last year. According to one local news report, the young man was seen holding the door shut while an elderly patient was trying to get out of her room.

Evidently, the young man was also seen dragging the victim by her arms and wrists. According to court documents, the woman had the bruises to prove such abuse occurred.

The alleged abuser’s defense attorney claims that his client, who is 24 years old, was only listening to older, more experienced employees at the time and should not be held criminally responsible for the event. However, the prosecution has subpoenaed the video tape that supposedly caught the entire interaction on film. The videotape, prosecutors claim, clearly shows that he is not merely a loyal employee listening to supervisors, but was engaging in the intentional abuse of the resident.

Alabama Nursing Home Employee Indicted for Abusing 96-Year-Old Resident

January 23, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier last month, a former health care provider at an elderly care facility was charged for the abuse of a 96-year-old patient under her care. According to one local news report, the Alabama nursing home resident suffered injuries after the nurse was caught “grabbing or twisting her arm [and] hitting and thumping her on the head.” The 27-year-old nurse responsible was indicted for second-degree elderly abuse and neglect.

Evidently, back in August of last year, the nursing home employee got frustrated with the resident for some unknown reason and started physically abusing her. The police issued an arrest warrant for the nurse shortly after the incident was reported. However, it took them several months to locate her. Finally, in December, she was brought into custody and charged for her abusive acts.

The nursing home that employed the nurse told reporters that it has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to the abuse of residents. Its policy—which is standard in the industry—is to immediately suspend or terminate any employee who has a credible threat of abuse made against him or her.

Another Report of an Abusive Nursing Home Aide

January 9, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Nursing homes are hardly known for the diligent and caring staff members they choose to hire. In fact, the opposite is often true. It seems that lately there have been countless news reports of abusive aides getting into physical altercations with elderly residents.

In the most recent of these reports, an elderly Guatemalan woman was mistreated and abused in a Culver City, California nursing home facility. According to one local news report, the elderly woman had a colostomy bag that collected her feces. As a part of the care that was to be provided to her, her nurses and nurse’s aides were to periodically empty the bag. However, one of the nurse’s aides used the opportunity to assault the woman with a hook that held the bag at the woman’s side when the woman asked for the aide to be less rough with her.

Aide Arrested After Resident Dies in Nursing Home Fight

December 26, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in the Bronx, New York, a 77-year-old man died after he was involved in a fight with a nursing aide in a local nursing home. According to a report by one local news source, the two got involved in an intense fight that eventually required witnesses to physically separate the two.

Evidently, the fight broke out when the resident wanted to get out of bed but the aide wasn’t allowing him to do so. At some point during the fracas, the nursing home resident fell on a broken table and was impaled by a piece of metal. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but he passed away from his injuries just a few hours later.

The nurse—who had been employed with the nursing home for 14 years—told police and reporters that the resident attacked her first. However, that has yet to be verified. For her involvement in the death of the resident, the aide has been charged with criminally negligent homicide, felony assault, and endangering the welfare of an adult. She was released on bail after pleading not guilty to all charges.

Nursing Home Video Catches Employees Abusing Elderly Patients

December 5, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier last month in Winter Park, Florida, two nursing home employees were caught on camera abusing a 76-year-old resident. According to one local news source, the two employees were seen on camera pretending to punch the man, stopping only inches from his face.

They were also seen holding the man down as they would grab his wrists and hit him with his own hands. When he tried to get away, they grabbed his wrists and prevented him from moving away. The employees also would pretend to hit the man with one hand, and then as he reacted they would hit him with their other hand.

The employees were caught engaging in this awful behavior by the man’s family, who had placed a “nanny cam” in the man’s room prior to the abuse. Both employees will face criminal charges for their role in the abuse of the nursing home resident.

Colorado Man Found Guilty of Sexually Molesting Two Nursing Home Patients

November 20, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Denver, Colorado, a man was convicted by a jury of sexually molesting two elderly female nursing home residents. According to a report by one local news source, the 42-year-old man was found guilty of two counts of the felony charge of sexual assault on an at-risk adult and one count of unlawful sexual conduct on an at-risk adult.

Evidently, the first instance of abuse took place at the Broomfield Skilled Nursing Center during the week of July 10, and then again with another patient on August 14. During the trial, the jury heard a tape of the man speaking to his fiancée, where he admitted to her what he had done and told her that he felt he deserved to be punished for it. In addition, both of the victims testified against him at trial.

The man, while found guilty earlier this month, will not be sentenced until January 2015.

Two Nurses Arrested for Patient Abuse in Florida Nursing Home

November 6, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Winter Haven, Florida, two Certified Nurse Assistants were arrested and charged with battery after they were caught on video beating a 76-year-old nursing home patient. According to a report by one local news source, the man is an Alzheimer’s patient and could not effectively communicate what was happening to his family. However, after his family noticed that he had unexplained bruises on his body, they decided to place a “nanny cam” in the man’s room to see what was going on.After 30 days of monitoring the camera, the man’s family were shocked to learn that two of the CNAs charged with caring for their loved one were actually threatening him and physically abusing him. As it turns out, the elderly man has had several other roommates who were moved out by family members, citing staffing problems in the room. One fellow resident’s wife told reporters that the man had actually complained that he was being treated roughly by the weekend staff.