Kentucky Nurse's Aide Arrested in Abuse Case - UPDATE
We discussed the abuse Armeda Thomas received while a resident of Richmond Health and Rehabilitation Center, also known as Madison Manor Nursing Home, in our previous blog. If you will recall, a "granny cam" came to the rescue of eighty-four year old Armeda Thomas, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. The video camera was secretly hidden in Ms. Thomas' room at Madison Manor in Richmond, Kentucky in August 2008 after family members discovered dozens of bruises all over her body and could not get any satisfactory answers from facility staff. The first bruises discovered were "handprint" bruises. They were photographed in July 2008. The hidden "granny cam" proved that Ms. Thomas was being abused by her caregivers. In fact, the ensuing investigation revealed that 17 residents suffering cognitive impairment experienced "injuries of unknown origin".
The camera caught facility staff "pulling the resident out of bed by her wrists and neck" and "roughly moving the resident from side to side". Ms. Thomas also suffered fractures in her lumbar vertebrae after a rough handling. Nursing assistants did not clean or feed Ms. Thomas appropriately, resulting in falsified feeding records. The investigation revealed on at least one occasion that a nursing assistant had eaten Ms. Thomas' food and falsely recorded that it was Ms. Thomas who had eaten everything. A staff member showed her fist to Ms. Thomas after she was combative and on another occasion, one staff member danced in front of her while another staff member held her down. The camera also captured Ms. Thomas lying on the floor for an hour before being discovered by staff.
Jaclyn Dawn VanWinkle, a former nurse's aide at the facility, was arrested on December 17, 2008 and charged with wanton neglect. VanWinkle was seen on the videotape singing and dancing while another staff member held Ms. Thomas' arms. VanWinkle also failed to use a gait belt while transferring Ms. Thomas from her bed to her wheelchair, which constituted neglect.
VanWinkle pled guilty to an amended charge of reckless abuse or neglect of an adult as a result of a plea agreement with the state attorney general's office. In addition to the amended charge, she is required to cooperate with the state's investigation into the matter. She was sentenced to twelve months in jail and forbidden from working a job in which she would care for "vulnerable adults". Her sentence will be conditionally discharged for a two year period if she does not commit another offense and cooperates with prosecutors.
