A nursing supervisor who allegedly failed to provide care for an injured resident of a nursing home was convicted of the charge of attempted patient neglect. Kathy Schwaben, the nursing supervisor for Monroe County Care Center, pled “no contest” the charge. After the judge found her guilty of the nursing home abuse, he sentenced her to 10 days in jail, along with fines and court costs. The jail sentence was suspended; however, Ms. Schwaben will remain on probation for one year.
An investigation by the Ohio Attorney General’s health care fraud division was commenced in August 2011. The attempted patient neglect charge stemmed from an injury to an 81-year-old patient who was riding in the nursing home van. The patient suffered multiple fractures when she was thrown from her wheelchair when the van driver swerved to avoid striking a deer.
Immediate medical attention was not provided to the patient because the nursing supervisor did not perform a physical assessment of the victim following the crash. In addition, investigation revealed that the patient had not been properly secured in her wheelchair. An employee of the nursing home used a bungee cord stretched across the front of the wheelchair’s arm rests rather than using a lap or shoulder restraint.
For more information, contact the Ohio nursing home abuse lawyers at Clark, Perdue & List.
Source: NBC4, “Local Nursing Supervisor Found Guilty of Attempted Neglect,” Meredith Miles, June 19, 2012.