Nurses, whether they are a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or a Registered Nurse (RN) or even just a nurse’s aide, are expected to care for the patients they watch over. That care includes knowing when they are in pain and reporting when a patient’s status changes to the doctor. They are also required to give out medication – failure to do so can leave a nurse liable when the patient passes away as a result of their condition. As McKnight’s reports, one Minnesota LPN was fired from her job after ignoring a patient’s seizures for 11 hours.
An LPN, who remains unidentified, was first suspended for six months while an investigation commenced and then later fired. The nurse, who worked at Stirling Park Health Care, was found to have ignored a patient that was having seizures and failed to report the change in the patient’s condition to a physician.
The nurse gave no explanation for her actions.
The patient, 58-year-old Kenneth Allers suffered from severe cognitive impairment and was being treated for non-alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver. He began having seizures on August 7, 2016. He had no previous history of seizures.
Rita O’Byrne, who is Allers’ ex-wife, was with him at the time. She alleges that she called for help for the entire 11 hours that the seizures continued. She further alleges that the LPN did not like being confronted about not giving Allers pain medication. She then took that anger out on Allers.
When a new nurse arrived on shift, Allers received pain medication and his seizures ceased. Allers died the next day of natural causes.
Do you think that a loved one has been the victim of abuse or neglect while in the care of a nursing facility? Contact the law offices of Schenk Smith. We will work hard to help you get the compensation you deserve. Contact us today.
