Wisconsin Nursing Home Prank Deemed a Crime

Nursing assistants who orchestrated ‘prank’ get jail time

On behalf of Milwaukee personal injury attorney Ric Domnitz of Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. posted in Nursing Home Abuse on Friday, August 26, 2011.

When you play a “prank” on someone who mentally is not able to object, it’s not a prank at all. It can be a crime.

That’s what two nursing assistants learned recently after they were caught coating elderly dementia patients with slippery ointment. The incident happened in California, but could easily have taken place in a Wisconsin facility. The outcome shows that such nursing home abuse should never be tolerated.

The two nursing assistants were reportedly found guilty of misdemeanor elder abuse. They were each sentenced to 20 days in county jail, as well as two years of probation earlier this month.

The incident occurred at the Valley View Skilled Nursing Home in November 2009. The woman apparently slathered the elderly patients with ointment from head to toe so they would be slippery for the staff who came in next. According to the Press Democrat, the Attorney General called the incident “cruel and shocking” at the time.

The women, who are 52 and 34 years old, respectively, were not the only employees involved in the incident. Along with them, three other nursing assistants had their licenses revoked. Another employee was found guilty of elder abuse and sentenced to community service and probation. Two others were found guilty for failing to report elder abuse.

While the patients were not technically injured, they were not able to object to what was happening to them. The nursing home employees’ behavior proved to be an inexcusable violation of the patients’ rights.

Source: Press Democrat, “Caregivers get jail time in Ukiah nursing home prank,” Glenda Anderson, Aug. 9, 2011

If you have suffered an injury through no fault of your own, contact a Milwaukee personal injury attorney with Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C.