Nurse "Strangles" Nursing Home Residents To Wake Them - UPDATE
We previously blogged about Lori Nussbaum, a CNA at Columbus Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Wisconsin and the abuse she inflicted on defenseless nursing home residents.
Nussbaum was recently charged with six counts of intentionally subjecting an individual at risk to abuse for her role in abusing defenseless residents under her care. Two co-workers of Nussbaum witnessed her holding pillows over the faces of crying residents and waking residents by pinching off their noses so they couldn't breathe. The affected residents were residents who suffered medical ailments and could not easily communicate. Reportedly, after witnessing Nussbaum abusing a resident, one co-worker asked, "Should you be doing that?" to which Nussbaum replied that the other employee was new and didn't know anything.
On another occasion, a co-worker witnessed Nussbaum placing a pillow over a screaming resident's face for 10 to 15 seconds and when the resident did not stop shouting, she reportedly placed her hand over the resident's mouth and "applied mild pressure for about 10 to 15 second two times". After another nose-pinching incident, Nussbaum told a co-worker, "Boy, he looks mad."
Nussbaum was released from jail on a $10,000 bond on September 9, 2010 and denies all charges saying, "I'm looking forward to proving my innocence in court." She is due in court on September 24 for a pretrial hearing. If convicted, she faces $10,000 in fines and up to 3.5 years in prison on each of the six charges.
