Accused nurse must stay in jail

I am saddened by this development and firmly believe that holding Woomer in jail indefinitely and unnecessarily prevents her from fully participating in the preparation of her defense. I did not note that a trial date had been set.

I am so sorry to hear about this. I will keep every one involved in my prayers

This thread would interest HH nurses everywhere.

There is a rule about nurses obtaining medications for patients at home. It is not allowed! Now that isn't to say that a nurse can't pick a prescription up that has been ordered by the physician, on her way to the patient's home. As long as the container hasn't been opened before she/he got to the home, and the patient/family pay for it. That's a greyish area.

Pleading "innocent until proven guilty", it might be that the child had been ordered morphine before (or how would the parents know he was allergic to it?), and it wasn't DC'd. (Long shot...) The newspaper article indicates that this was the first time Woomer had worked there, so she'd hardly know much about the case before going (there goes "murder with intention"), and might have been one of those neglectful people who stashes a narcotic in her pocket after giving it while on duty elsewhere. It also could be that she's seriously psychotic, yet there's no indication that she's been seen by a psychiatrist. Shame on her attorney and the Judge!

What has her attorney been doing for the past 4 months, other than making an attempt he had to know was futile in cases like this, to get bail for her? Does he know if she'd meet the criteria for getting bail? If her credit history is bad, or flight is a possibility (which it is for most psychotics not seriously sedated) it may not be possible. Bail bondspeople have seen many mentally ill defendents, and aren't going to throw their money to the wind, if she had no property as colateral.

No mention of what references the parents had for hiring this nurse, and the reason why she was told not to give him any meds, makes me suspect that they had misgivings about her at the getgo. The newspaper article said she was licensed. Did anyone verify that, and whether there were dings in her record?

Their child qualified for "respite" home nursing care through the state's disabilities program, and a Pediatric Nurse Consultant from there (I was one) goes to the home to do a thorough assessment, makes the recommendation for nursing care, and gets it through a private agency. That's if she can get a nurse from an agency. When I worked there, I often couldn't find one for love nor money, due to THE NURSING SHORTAGE, in 1999. (caps in reaction to posters on another thread who claim that there is no nursing shortage).

I'm willing to bet she pleads "guilty due to insanity", and ends up in a psychiatric facility for the rest of her life. Maybe they'll be able to get her to make beds for patients who can't, there........

Eerything that I read in the previous thread said to me that the case was tissue thin and she was being scapegoated.

Sounds like Judge Ashworth has already rendered a decision. So much for innocent until proven guilty.

Exactly, This poor woman will be found guilty and I think she's a total scapegoat. People will want someone to pay because a child died and sadly, it might not be the wrong person who ends up paying.

I just read the other thread...all 34 pages of it and I'm so very sad. I talked this over with my mother in law and we would both like to donate to a defense fund or something!

As I said in the other thread, her attorney needs to pull all the posts on discussion boards from people in that county to prove there is no way this woman can get a fair trial. The jury pool is tainted, and it appears there are people trying their level best to make sure it's tainted. Her best hope is a change of venue.

May

is it just me, or does anyone else find it suspect that the mom forbade the nurse to give any meds to the boy?
that just rubbed me the wrong way.

so much for justice.

leslie