Can Granny Cams Stop Abuse in Milwaukee Nursing Homes?

Former nurse’s aide faces felony charges for abuse caught on camera

On behalf of Milwaukee personal injury attorney Ric Domnitz of Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. posted in Nursing Home Abuse on Friday, December 9, 2011.

In a post last summer, we told you about how some people in various states are setting up “granny cams” in order to catch nursing home abuse. In a recent case, a woman was convicted based on evidence that included footage from such a camera.

Police in another state are charging the woman with a felony after she admitted to repeated abuse of an elderly patient at MetroHealth Medical Center.

The woman was a nurse’s aide at a nursing home called Prentiss Center, and the abuse of the patient was caught on a video camera after the patient’s son installed it in the room. Among other abuse, the video allegedly showed the nurse tossing the patient onto a bed in a violent manner.

After her arrest, the woman surrendered her nurse’s aide license to the state. Now she will not be able to work for centers to which Medicaid gives funds.

The findings are surprising to the supervisors of the center, they say, because they had credited the nurse’s aide with being attentive and caring to all patients and their needs. Unfortunately, things are not always as they seem in these cases.

The woman was set to face her charges during a court hearing last week. There is a possibility she could receive 10 years in prison.

A second nurse’s aide has been accused of abusing the same patient and she will face a trial in January.

Source: WKYC, “Investigator: Nurse’s aide faces 10 years for patient abuse,” Tom Meyer, Nov. 28, 2011

If you need legal representation for an elder abuse lawsuit, contact a Milwaukee personal injury attorney with Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. for a free consultation.