Healthcare Compliance Perspective:
A healthcare provider caring for a patient must remain aware of a patient’s care; and must also always exercise caution and be aware of changes in behavior that may signal a need to immediately request assistance.
A man, who had been a kind and cooperative patient when previously cared for by a nursing aide in a Pennsylvania medical center, has been charged with attacking and choking the aide with the elastic band he ripped from his underwear.
The aide told the police that the man was behaving strangely when she was caring for him. She said that he went into the bathroom, then suddenly came out and approached her from behind. He quickly wrapped the elastic band that he had ripped off his underwear twice around her neck choking her violently. The aide described how she fought to get free from the man choking her and that the man spoke into her ear sounding like some sort of “demon.” When she tried to get free by placing her fingers under the elastic band and attempted to stand up, she says he threw her roughly back down onto the bed. When an employee of the center walked by the room and saw the struggle, screamed for help and then ran into the room to help the aide.
The man was arraigned before a district court judge on charges of “possessing instruments of crime, simple assault, strangulation and recklessly endangering another person.” He could not pay the $150,000 bail; so, he was jailed in the county correctional facility.
The reason for the man being at the medical center was not disclosed
