Nurse fired for patient’s death
September 12, 2007
PERRY — A nurse has been fired for failing to meet with administrators of a nursing home as part of an investigation into a patient’s death.
The nursing home was fined $7,000 after a state investigation showed employees were unable to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the patient.
The patient was on dialysis and complained of being cold and of severe headaches. The person was under several blankets and had a temperature of 103 degrees, records show.
The patient was later found with a faint pulse. Two workers discussed performing CPR but decided against it. State inspectors later learned one of the workers didn’t have CPR training and the other had a shoulder injury preventing her from being able to perform it.
One of the workers called police while another worker stood outside the room and watched a third employee standing in the room doing nothing, inspectors said.
The officer who arrived told inspectors he asked for a device used to help a patient breath, but waited three minutes before a nurse brought him the device because she had trouble finding it.
An ambulance arrived and took the patient to the hospital where the resident was pronounced dead, records show.
