Veterans who have served our country deserve the best of care, especially in their later years. Sometimes, this care must come from the staff at a nursing home, but that does not mean that their care should be less than what they would receive at home. Unfortunately, in some cases, a person does not receive the quality of care that they should. The Washington Post reports on a hidden camera that caught a nurse failing to give a veteran CPR when needed.
An 89-year-old veteran of a world war, James Dempsey had served his country, raised children, and buried his wife. Yet, he felt uneasy about preparing to go into a nursing home just outside Atlanta. So uneasy, family says, that they hid a camera in his room for peace of mind.
The camera, hidden in his room at Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation, revealed that when he was in need, he was virtually ignored. What they saw on the video caused the man’s family to sue the nursing home.
Dempsey pressed the call button early in the morning of the last day of his life. He croaked out the words, “Help me, help me, help me.”
It was eight minutes before someone answered the call. The worker adjusted some of the tubes around Dempsey’s head, adjusted his bed, and left him alone.
Staff returned to the room nearly an hour later and found Dempsey unconscious, yet another half hour passed before anyone called 911. At that point, nursing supervisor Wanda Nuckles was called to the room, just before 6:30 a.m. A few moments later, another staff member joined Nuckles and another nurse. Still, CPR was not performed.
Nuckles pressed both hands into Dempsey’s mattress, and someone in the video is shown to be laughing. It was only a minute after this that Nuckles attempted CPR. She pumped Dempsey’s chest a dozen times and then stopped.
Nuckles and the other nurse in the video had their licenses revoked after the Georgia Board of Nursing learned of the video.
Have you or someone you love been the victim of abuse or neglect while staying in a nursing home? Let the law offices of Schenk Smith fight to get you the compensation that you deserve. Call today for a consultation.
