An Alzheimers patient was raped...

Nurses Safety

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I just wanted to vent, and talk about this horrible incident with everyone. It was all over the news, so I can share my opinions, and feelings...

I took care of an elderly lady that suffers from Alzheimers dementia, that was sexually assaulted! It happened in a nearby assisted living center. The police have caught the man who is accused of the crime.

The staff was looking for the resident, because she did not report to dinner, in the dining room. As they looked for her, a CNA found a nurse walking out of a bathroom, zipping up his pants! They proceed to find the resident on the bathroom floor, and questioned her about it. She had blood all over her. She couldn't answer all the questions, because of her dementia, so they sent her to the hospital for assessment. The ED found her with a lady partsl tear, and positive for semen. The nurse had fled the scene, and the police were notified, and he was caught. In my entire nursing career,

I have heard of stories like this, but had never actually known, or have taken care of anyone in this situation. It was so sad. I have spent time grieving for this woman, and her family. I just can't understand how someone could do such a horrible act. I have always thought Alzheimers as being a terrible disease, except in this case, as she does not show any signs of remembering the incident. Not yet at least...

I wanted to share the story, if you ever suspect someone of acting in any hate crimes, please speak up. It is part of our job to protect our patients and co workers! I am so sad.:crying2:

That's what makes us all so uniquely individual. :)

jnette,

would you feel differently if it happened to one of your loved ones????

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

This ranks right up there (or down there) with some of the most disgusting things I've ever heard. Another poster was right, the prison 'hierarchy' will give this sicko a nice, big taste of his own medicine........who says there's no justice in the world?

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That has got to be one of the saddest stories I have ever heard =(. We live in a sick world.

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Specializes in Hemodialysis, Home Health.
jnette,

would you feel differently if it happened to one of your loved ones????

What I "feel" and what I would DO are two entirely different things.

Certainly, my gut reaction would be to want the slime to suffer miserably, but I am not capable of torturing anyone at any time for anything. I know that much about myself. I have reason to know, and I have had opportunity to find that out.

Yes, he should be incarcerated and if "justice" is served via his inmates, then so be it. I shed no tears for the creep.

But to call for torture is something I cannot find within myself to do. Plain and simple. I can understand the outcry. I can understand the gut feelings of wanting him to suffer.

But for me personally, I must differentiate between what I FEEL and what I DO.

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Specializes in med/surg, ortho, rehab, ltc.

I agree with Jnette , what I feel and what I DO are two different things. When I read this post my first thought was...Thank God I wasn't one of the cops that arrested this man.... I would've been tempted to intact a little vigilante justice! :angryfire It's seems no different than raping a defenseless infant. I pray for this lady and her family. Does anyone have a link to this story? I only found a blurb on a link to the New Orleans newspaper. I know it doesn't matter but I wonder what type of license this guy has (or had).

Not long ago I read a story about a nurse that worked alone at night in a small PACU. Over the course of a year several women reported that they felt that they had raped while under anesthesia; but they were told that you can have "strange dreams" when coming to after surgery. They finally caught him.

TLC or The Discovery Channel recently did a Forensic Files type story on "Nurses Who Kill". Sad, shocking and horrible. Luckily there's enough press about good nurses to enhance the image of our profession.

I meant to say - they felt they had been raped.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical.
it's unfortunate that you consider it mean because we're all for castration.

a man horrifically rapes a demented elderly lady and we're being mean in what we perceive to be suitable punishment?

that is not mean rep. that is a human reaction to an unconscionable crime.

and even if fairy girl is right, i still want that man tortured...no doubt about it.

leslie

If you have read my first post, I recommended plain broken glass. What I mean when I used the word "mean" is that even as nurses we are known for our TLC, we can also be mean to people who took advantage of their power as the rapist nurse in the story. Sure, I wish him hell for doing that and castration would be a better punishment for him plus a life sentence in a federal prison. :)

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jnette,

would you feel differently if it happened to one of your loved ones????

I am torn on this issue. On the one hand, I know that wanting carstration is a gut reaction and a human one but, I know it wouldn't work. When one means of sexual assault is removed from the offender, they turn to other means. Would I feel differently if it happened to one of my loved ones? Definitely. Despite being a nurse, despite considering myself to be a good person, I would resort to more permanent means. Having seen offender after offender repeat, receive a slap on the wrist, rerepeat, and receive another slap on the wrist - I am all for vigilante justice on this issue. If it happened to one of my loved ones, I would find a permanent resolution to the problem. I believe in the law, but I also believe that the law fails us on this issue. Would I go to jail to ensure that my loved one would know that the offender could NEVER harm them again? You bet.

On the other hand, how many people have been falsely convicted of such crimes and suffered for it, both in prison and at home? There have been several men in Canada released from prison after serving DECADES for crimes they didn't commit after DNA evidence proved that someone else had done it.

Would I resort to extreme measures if I was sure? Yes. But, have you ever seen that movie with Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon? It was just released in the last year or so? Sean Penn was sure - and he killed the wrong man. I'm not saying that in the OP's experience the man was innocent (obviously the DNA evidence from the victim will prove it beyond any reasonable doubt). I'm just saying, can we be certain enough to castrate someone who may be proven innocent at a later time?

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I am torn on this issue. On the one hand, I know that wanting carstration is a gut reaction and a human one but, I know it wouldn't work. When one means of sexual assault is removed from the offender, they turn to other means. Would I feel differently if it happened to one of my loved ones? Definitely. Despite being a nurse, despite considering myself to be a good person, I would resort to more permanent means. Having seen offender after offender repeat, receive a slap on the wrist, rerepeat, and receive another slap on the wrist - I am all for vigilante justice on this issue. If it happened to one of my loved ones, I would find a permanent resolution to the problem. I believe in the law, but I also believe that the law fails us on this issue. Would I go to jail to ensure that my loved one would know that the offender could NEVER harm them again? You bet.

On the other hand, how many people have been falsely convicted of such crimes and suffered for it, both in prison and at home? There have been several men in Canada released from prison after serving DECADES for crimes they didn't commit after DNA evidence proved that someone else had done it.

Would I resort to extreme measures if I was sure? Yes. But, have you ever seen that movie with Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon? It was just released in the last year or so? Sean Penn was sure - and he killed the wrong man. I'm not saying that in the OP's experience the man was innocent (obviously the DNA evidence from the victim will prove it beyond any reasonable doubt). I'm just saying, can we be certain enough to castrate someone who may be proven innocent at a later time?

I used to worry about the innocent people on death row. But, like you said Lydia, the new DNA evidence and superior forensic technology police now have has made all all the difference. (The only exception being where the defendant is very weatlhy, like in the O.J. Simpson case. He was able to buy a ticket out of jail.) I don't know enough about law enforcement & detective work in Canada, but I have tremendous respect for the hard work and dedication of police investigators in the US.

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i work in a ltc facility where an aid molested a resident and it makes me sick to think about all the times that i worked with this aid and wonder if this aid did something bad and i just didn't notice. It kills me to think about what the resident has to be going through. and it kills me to think, what would i do if that had been my mother? I know what i would do if i caught someone doing that to any of my residents. They would need the cops to pull me off of the offender, because i wouldn't stop trying to kill them. These residents aren't my family, and i fully know that, but i treat them the way i would want someone to treat my mother. and heaven help the person that hurts my mother, cause i am 100 percent a momma's girl. I can only hope that justice gets served, one way or another.

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