Elder Law

Nursing Home Nurse Pleads Guilty in Elderly Neglect Case

By Levin & Perconti

A woman has pleaded no contest to neglect of a vulnerable adult in a nursing home. The judge sentenced the woman to pay more than $600 in fines and court costs and complete 40 hours of community service. The woman was a practical nurse at the nursing home when she failed to properly assess a vulnerable adult after a fall and did not notify a physician and the victim?s family. The victim sustained a broken clavicle and several broken ribs as a result of the fall and was in so much pain that he was unable to communicate with staff. Although the nurse was not responsible for the elderly man?s fall, she had a professional and ethical duty to ensure he was examined for possible injuries by his physician. The resulting neglect led to nursing home negligence. In the words of the attorney general, the woman ?failed in her professional and ethical duty to this vulnerable adult entrusted in her care.? To read more about the nursing home negligence, please click the link.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on August 01, 2009 (boomark / email).