CNA punches, slaps nursing home patient in face
January 28th, 2009 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
Jenette Sloan went every day to the Williamsburg Village nursing home in Muncie, Indiana, to visit her 94-year-old mother, Verna Talbott. But one day in June 2007, Sloan was startled to see her mother drugged to unconsciousness with a red, swollen face, according to The Star Press. Sloan questioned nursing home employees but no one would tell her what had happened to her mother. Shortly after she left, one nurse called to tell her that they were sending Talbott to the hospital because she was hit by one of the certified nursing assistants (CNA).
Sloan gradually began to hear the truth. CNA Karen Buck had hit and slapped Talbott numerous times in the face causing a black eye and two other facial bruises after Talbott spit at her. Sloan contends that Buck caused her mother pain while putting stockings on her sore feet.
The executive director of Williamsburg Village, now known as Golden Living Center, issued a statement saying that the nursing home had reported the situation to authorities and that the incident had been fully investigated by the state, the ombudsman, the police and the attorney general’s office. The statement claimed, “After the investigations were concluded, the alleged abuse was not substantiated, and the prosecutor has declined to pursue the case.”
However the prosecutor’s office did charge Buck with felony battery resulting in bodily injury. Battery becomes a felony offense when the victim is, among other things, an endangered adult, as was Talbott, who moved into the nursing home after suffering a stroke.
Talbott died less than three months later. Attorneys hired to represent Talbott’s estate claim that the brutal and savage assault and beating Talbott suffered at the hands of Buck, and the nursing home’s negligence, resulted in serious complications that ultimately led to Talbott’s wrongful death.
Golden Living Center has a four-star rating by the federal government, which his based on inspections, staffing levels and quality measurements.