Nursing Home Aide Accused of Abusing Dementia Patient (FL. USA)

 Nursing home aide accused of abusing dementia patient
Worker, who has been fired, held pillow over woman's face, deputies say
April 13, 2012
By JIM SCHOETTLER
Morris News Service

Worker, who has been fired, held pillow over woman’s face, deputies say
A 53-year old St. Johns County nursing home worker has been charged with abusing a patient after being caught holding a pillow over her face this morning, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Detectives arrested Martin Robinson Aniello of Spring Street on a charge of elder abuse. The Sheriff’s Office said the incident occurred at the Ponce Care Center on Old Moultrie Road. Aniello had been working as a nurse’s assistant at the home. He was fired after his arrest, according to a statement from the facility.
Aniello is accused of holding a pillow over the face of an 81-year-old female patient as she screamed for help.
A co-worker who was outside the victim’s room heard the unidentified patient screaming “Stop, don’t do that,” about 2:30 a.m and opened the door to see Aniello holding the pillow over her face with his right hand, a Sheriff’s Office report said.
Aniello threw the pillow by the headboard and said to the patient, “Don’t hit me. If you keep this up, I will take you to the shower room,” the report said. A nursing supervisor was alerted to the incident and called police.
The report said that the patient, suffering from dementia, has a history of screaming the same thing she said that drew the co-worker’s attention to the room. Those incidents have occurred while she is being showered or changed, the report said.
Another employee of Ponce Care Center was arrested in October on a charge of battery on a person 65 years or older, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
Frances Melissa Neal, 25, of Hastings, was working as a staff member at a facility when the incident happened, according to the report. The victim said that Neal was helping her use the bathroom and got agitated after she asked for help reaching the toilet paper.
The victim said that Neal grabbed her left arm and pulled it behind her to the point it hurt her shoulder, according to the report. Neal stopped pulling when the victim yelled, “Ow.”
The report also says that the deputy questioned Martin Aniello about that incident, and he told the deputy that he did not see a battery occur but heard the victim say, “Ow, that is my hurt shoulder.”
At the time, nursing home officials declined to comment about the incident.
Neal is scheduled for a felony pretrial hearing in St. Johns County on May 1, according to court records.
During his arrest on Friday, Aniello invoked his right to remain silent, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Records show no other arrests in Florida for Aniello. He was once the subject of an unfounded sexual allegation at the home, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Aniello was released from the St. Johns County jail Friday afternoon after posting bail.
An official of the nursing home declined to talk about the case or Aniello’s employment. The facility’s statement praised Aniello’s co-worker for reacting quickly.
“Thankfully there was immediate action on the part of supervisory staff to intervene and prevent harm to the resident,” the statement said.
The St. Augustine Record reporter Sheldon Gardner contributed to this story.

 SOURCE:    St Augustine.com

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