Nurses Board Approves 103 Resgistrations of Criminal Nurses (Australia)

Victorian Nurses Board approves 103 registrations of criminal nurses

By Grant McArthur

Herald Sun

January 24, 2009

NURSES guilty of manslaughter, sex offences, arson and torturing animals have been allowed to care for the sick and vulnerable in Victoria.

In the past three years the Nurses Board approved registration of 103 nurses who had admitted being found guilty of crimes such as theft, stalking, drug trafficking, possessing child pornography and manslaughter. 

The board cancelled registration of two nurses because of their criminal pasts, while the results on another three nurses are unclear, the Herald Sun reports.

Patient advocates and the Opposition want an immediate investigation of registration of some nurses, as well as the process, in light of documents obtained by the Herald Sun through Freedom of Information requests. 

But the Nurses Board says it is not concerned that at least 103 of Victoria's 86,000 registered nurses have serious criminal records. Its says its investigation processes ensure public safety.

In 2006 it became mandatory for nurses to disclose their crimes when renewing their registration each year. 

Since then the board has been told of: 

A NURSE convicted of manslaughter in 1994 whom it re-registered. 

THREE nurses guilty of indecent assault who had their registration renewed. 

TWO nurses guilty of cruelty to animals. 

THREE nurses guilty of recklessly causing serious injury and others who committed serious assault, common assault, unlawful assault, intentionally causing serious injury and negligently causing serious injury. 

TWO nurses convicted of stalking. 

A NURSE caught with a drug of dependence and taking it into a prison in 2005. 

A HOST of theft, fraud and social security offences. 

In one instance the board renewed a nurse's registration despite being aware of 19 convictions for arson. 

Some offences date back many years, but all were disclosed to the board after 2006. 

Medical Error Action Group spokeswoman Lorraine Long accused the state's medical authorities of placing the interests of nurses above those of their patients. 

"The Nurses Board is looking at the rights of nurses, but the patients are part of this equation and where are their rights? Who is protecting them?" she said. 

Opposition health spokeswoman Helen Shardey demanded the board investigate the most serious offences

Abridged

SOURCE:      The Herald Sun, Australia

-----------------------------------------------------------

It is extremely important that nurses, have a clean record.  This must be considered a first step towards preventing elder abuse in nursing homes, or other organisations where vulnerable seniors  are left to the mercy of their carers.

-------------------------------------------------

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources

New Billboard Designed to Help End Elder Abuse (WY. USA)

By Baylie Davis

bdavis@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE -- About 10 miles north of Cheyenne on Interstate 25, a 48-foot billboard displays a less-than-subtle message.

"Hurting grandmother is elder abuse," it reads.

The words are beside a photo of a wrinkled, gray-haired woman, her eye black and purple with bruising.

In about 15 years of working as a companion to the elderly, Alice Carter said nearly all of her dozens of clients suffered some kind of abuse: verbal, emotional or physical.

It's not always physical abuse, although that happens as well.

In one case, a woman's son would bring her flowers when he came to visit. He would then ask her for a check to pay for the flowers, telling her they cost hundreds of dollars.

But in Carter's current job with the Wyoming Kinship Advocacy, where she has worked for about five years, she has only had one person admit abuse.

"I think one is too many," she said.

Plus, it's a vastly under-reported crime, she said.

Often, the abuser is a family member or in-home care provider. Reporting abuse could mean family repercussions or having to go to a nursing home.

And with increasing numbers of grandparents raising grandchildren, the risk of elder abuse goes up, Carter said.

Carter got guardianship of her granddaughter many years ago when her daughter died. But she was ready to give up when the child was verbally abusive and broke everything in the house.

That's what spurred her to try to make sure both children and adults have happy homes, she said.

"Elder abuse is rising," Dorothy Thomas, the state consultant for Adult Protective Services, said. "We're an aging nation, we're an aging state."

Reports of adult abuse to her agency have gone up over the last several years.

It's also a fairly unknown issue, Thomas added, although that's improving.

Earlier this month, Carter's and Thomas' agencies, along with Community Action of Laramie County, the Department of Health's Aging Division and the Casey Family Programs funded the billboard north of the city.

It took a partnership to find the approximately $4,500 in grants and donations, Thomas emphasized.

The goal of the billboard is to raise the public's awareness about the issue of elder abuse. It will stand for 11 months.

Despite what some have described to her as a somewhat shocking image, Carter said the bruised woman is one of the more "gentle" messages they considered.

"We've seen far worse," Carter said.

SOURCE:     Wyoming Tribune - WY,USA

----------------------------------------------

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources

Teen Jailed Over Sex Attack on Woman, 82 (Australia)

 February 25, 2009

 A Sydney teenager who cannot remember raping an 82-year-old woman in broad daylight after a drunken night out will spend at least three years in jail.

Robert El-Chammas, 18, from Ermington, admitted to sexually assaulting the elderly woman at a park in Anzac Avenue, West Ryde, in the early morning of May 11 last year.

Judge Peter Johnstone sentenced him today to a maximum of five years in jail with a non-parole period of three years.

The teenager, who earlier told the NSW District Court at Parramatta he was ashamed of himself, wiped away tears as the judge handed down the sentence.

The court heard El-Chammas got drunk for the first time ever on the night of May 10, consuming six mixed vodka drinks and spending about $200 on shouts at Kings Cross nightclubs.

El-Chammas said he had no recollection of the attack in which he threw the woman to the ground, punched her several times and raped her.

Reading from the facts before sentencing the teenager, Judge Johnstone said El-Chammas continued assaulting the victim even when approached by a member of the public.

Witnesses in nearby apartment blocks heard the woman's screams and called police who chased El-Chammas as he tried to flee with his pants down.

There was no apparent reason for the attack on the elderly woman, Judge Johnstone said.

"The only explanation is ... that the accused must have been very, very drunk," he said.

In sentencing El-Chammas, Judge Johnstone said imposing the maximum non-parole period would not be appropriate.

"There are factors that call for a departure from the standard non-parole period," he said.

"The fact that this was the first and only offence this offender has committed, his extreme youth, his prospect of rehabilitation and the unlikelihood of his reoffending."

The seriousness of the offence was lessened by the absence of other aggravating factors like planning, abduction or the use of a weapon, the judge said.

He said the teenager had also shown his remorse from the outset and had expressed shame to police, doctors and the court.

During sentencing submissions, El-Chammas was asked by his barrister Ian McClintock SC whether he would have attacked the woman while sober.

Abridged

SOURCE:    The Age Newspapers (Australia)

-------------------------------------------------

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources

Opening Eyes to Elder Abuse (MO. USA)

State hotline available for reports of injury, neglect and exploitation

by Erin Wisdom

February 24, 2009

Agnes, 85 years old, lost her husband last year.

Due to her arthritis and congestive heart failure, Agnes moved in with her 55-year-old daughter, Emily. The situation is difficult for all of them.

Sometimes Emily feels as if she’s at the end of her rope — caring for her mother, worrying about her college-age son and about her husband, who is about to be forced into early retirement. Emily has caught herself calling her mother names and accusing her mother of ruining her life. Recently, she lost her temper and slapped her mother. In addition to feeling frightened and isolated, Agnes feels trapped and worthless.

This scenario, given by the American Psychological Association, illustrates the phenomenon of elder abuse, which an estimated 2.1 million Americans experience in some form each year.

“It’s sad, because it’s usually someone close to them” who is being abusive, says Karen Worthington, the area supervisor for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ division of senior and disability services. “That’s hard, because they trust those people.”

She adds that the four social service workers in her division each receive about eight to 10 abuse reports to look into each month in Buchanan County. Many times, the cases called into the Department of Health and Senior Services’ elder abuse hotline — (800) 392-0210 — are ones of self-neglect, reported perhaps by a neighbor who notices the unkempt appearance or confusion that could indicate a person is no longer capable of caring for herself.

Although this kind of neglect seems to be more common here than physical or emotional abuse, Ms. Worthington says, a kind of abuse she’s seen increase over the past year is financial exploitation. In response, the Department of Health and Senior Services has created a program, Missourians Stopping Adult Financial Exploitation (MOSAFE), to alert banks to indicators that elderly or disabled clients are being taken advantage of.

“If someone you know has never withdrawn a lot of money, but all of a sudden she’s coming in with someone new and withdrawing a lot, that might be a red flag,” Ms. Worthington says.

Abridged

SOURCE:      St. Joseph News-Press MO,USA

-------------------------------------------------

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources

Gay Pensioners and Disclosure to Centrelink, Elder Abuse? (Australia)

Gay pensioners required to out themselves to Centrelink

By James Carleton for Radio Australia

Feb 19, 2009

From July 1, Centrelink will recognise gay and lesbian relationships for the first time, but for same sex-couples receiving Centrelink payments, that hard-won equality comes at a price.

Under the changes, some may get less money, or lose their payments altogether, if their partner earns more than the income threshold.

And they will now be obliged to disclose their homosexuality to Centrelink.

For old-age pensioners in particular, that's raising concerns.

Gerontologist Jo Harrison says it is a traumatic prospect for some of the gay and lesbian pensioners she works with.

"It's a huge problem, even if it is kept secret by Centrelink, because we're talking about people who have lived lives where in their 20s they were arrested and bashed," she says.

"In their 30s they were subjected to shock treatment, in their 40s they had a lobotomy, in their 50s their were constantly discriminated against, in their 60s they experienced prejudice.

"Their entire life structure has been built around hiding, keeping the great silence and absolutely not having to, under any circumstances, out themselves to anyone.

"Now along comes a government department requiring them to declare [their sexuality]. And if they don't declare, or they lie and say, 'We're not a couple', then there is a threat of ultimately prosecution.

"It's dangerously close to elder abuse."

The issue is further complicated because many seniors in same-sex relationships do not consider themselves to be gay or lesbian.

Abridged

SOURCE:     ABC NEWS (Australia)

------------------------------------------------

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources

County No Place for Elder Abuse (PA. USA)

County no place for elder abuse

February 23, 2009

By Carolyn M. Tenaglia

Regional Ombudsman Coordinator

To the Editor:

Recently, there has been a lot of activity in the Schuylkill County law enforcement community as they try to respond to the increasingly more prevalent crime of elder abuse.

This month, Republican-Herald readers learned of a local couple sentenced for misappropriating personal funds of an elder, a local waitress accused of a similar crime and a former long-term care professional charged with swindling the residents entrusted to her care.

It would be really easy to become angry and to think that Schuylkill County is a hostile place for elders. But, actually, the opposite is true.

All of this activity is because Schuylkill County has taken a stand against elder abuse. The social service, government and law enforcement communities have created an organization that is working to increase community awareness and law enforcement’s response to suspected abusers.

The Schuylkill Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance Inc. was created approximately three years ago to try to address the increased incidents of abuse that were being experienced by seniors in Schuylkill County.

It has not been easy. Raising awareness requires us all to take a long, hard look at our problems. It requires training and re-learning strategies that may no longer be effective. It necessitates the discussion of difficult, embarrassing and painful topics — having people you trust take advantage of you, for example. It forces us to take a stand and stare down those who want to do harm.

But, despite the challenges, we have responded to the problem. Recently, a loud and clear message can be heard over the disappointment and fear. That message is: “We will NOT tolerate elder abuse in Schuylkill County.”

Potential abusers are now fully aware that Schuylkill County is equipped to identify and prosecute such abuse. These growing “pains” have been necessary in our collective efforts to better protect our elders. And, out of those struggles has emerged a system that can be more responsive to the people we serve.

I am a proud member of SEAPA and I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues for a job well done. I would like to congratulate our local law enforcement, our district attorney and his staff and the staff of the Schuylkill County Office of Senior Services. Your tireless investigation and prosecution of abusers/suspected abusers makes a huge difference in the quality of life experienced here in Schuylkill County.

I ask everyone to be supportive of the efforts of SEAPA. Please consider participating in one of its excellent training opportunities. Please keep our annual “Silver Ribbon Campaign” in mind as spring approaches. Please educate yourselves about how and when to report suspected elder abuse so we can continue to make Schuylkill safer for all of us.

SOURCE:     Republican & Herald - Pottsville,PA,USA

------------------------------------------------

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources

Granny Scammed Over Period of 25 Years (Australia)

I'm totally against abuses of any kind. But, since this blog is about Elder Abuse, I will post articles and news items on this issue.

Granny scammers have been around for a long time.  Thought I have heard it all, but a email alerted me to a story run by A Current Affairs program in Australia.  

A granny believes that she has millions of dollars awaiting her collection, from London, New York and many other places.  The catch - she has been sending large sums of money, all over the world because she was told that by paying those "fees" she would collect the millions. Apparently, friends and family members have lost money through this sad saga.

Unbelievably naive? Judge for yourself.  The video is titled: 'Deal with the Devil'

Watch the video

-------------------------------------------------

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources

Man, 71, Beaten and Bitten (CA. USA)

Lake County elder abuse: Man, 71, beaten and bitten

By GLENDA ANDERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

February 19, 2009 .

A Kelseyville man has been arrested on suspicion of breaking into the home of a 71-year-old Clearlake man, then beating and biting him.

David Moreno, 39, is believed to have attacked and threatened to kill the older man after accusing him of speaking badly of him, said Clearlake Police Lt. Mike Hermann.

The name name of the injured man is not being released because he is a victim of elder abuse, he said.

A man went to the older man’s home just after 9 p.m. Tuesday and began banging on the door and yelling threats, Hermann said.

When the victim refused to let him in, a man identified by police as Moreno tried breaking the door then broke a window.

The intruder chased the man, began beating him and bit his right hand, he said. Two other people in the house intervened and the attacker fled with a purse that was later recovered. Moreno was booked into the Lake County jail by police following a foot chase, Hermann said.

Moreno, listed in booking documents as a landscaper, remained jailed Thursday on suspicion of elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, resisting arrest and making criminal threats.

SOURCE:    The Press Democrat

-----------------------------------------------

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources

Look After Your Parents in Punjab or Go to Jail (Punjab, India)

 

Tribune News Service

 

January 19, 2009

 

India

 

Days before his son and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal would be sworn in as his deputy, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has given sanction for implementation of the Punjab Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Act. The law provides for efficacious provision of maintenance of elderly people.

According to the Act, parents and senior citizens above 60 years of age can now legally demand sustenance from their wards. And to ensure the rule is followed, the Punjab government has notified setting up one-member tribunals at the sub-divisional level throughout the state.

Defaulting wards or heirs could be fined up to Rs 5,000 or given three months imprisonment or both, depending upon the gravity of the defiance of tribunal orders. Besides, appellate tribunals would be set up at the district level.

The sub-divisional magistrate would have to pass orders within 90 days of the receipt of application. The Act has also been kept free from advocacy, as the aggrieved parents, grandparents or senior citizens can prefer their application before the District Social Welfare Officer, who has been recommended to act as applicant’s attorney before the tribunal.

Notably, Punjab has become the fifth state after Tripura, Maharashtra, Goa and Himachal Pradesh to implement the Act, with retrospective effect from August 27 last year.

Once the tribunal is satisfied that a senior citizen — parent or grandparent — is unable to take care of himself and there is neglect or refusal of maintenance on the part of the children or relative, it may direct one or all children or relatives to pay to the applicant a monthly maintenance allowance, the upper limit of which shall be Rs 10,000.

Abridged

SOURCE:   The Tribune News Service

------------------------------------------------

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources

Pitfall for Investigators in Tara Nursing Home Case (GA. USA)

Pitfall for investigators in Tara Nursing home case

Reported by: Brooke Kelley, bkelley@wtoc.com

Feb 21, 2009

THUNDERBOLT, GA (WTOC)--A small pitfall for investigators in the Tara Nursing home case. You must remember the two cousins accused of taking the identities of dozens of residents at the Thunderbolt facility. Some of the charges had to be dropped in this case.

Thunderbolt investigators say Tamara Smith and Teresa Robbins stole the identities and personnel information from 43 people half who were staying at Tara nursing home.

Charges range from identity theft to fraud, but Captain James Pierce with Thunderbolt Police Department will not be able to charge the two with elder abuse.

"It was discovered that we can't pursue the elder abuse counts because do not apply to residents of long term care facility," said Pierce.

26 elder abuse counts will now have to be dropped.

The victims range in age from 60 to as old as 100 years old.

Abridged

SOURCE:     WTOC - Savannah,GA,USA

-------------------------------------------------

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources