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"An investigator's report released Monday found that 50-year-old Steven Sabock died in April after he at one point choked on medication and had been left sitting in a chair for close to a day at the facility about 50 miles southeast of Raleigh. Surveillance video showed hospital staff watching television and playing cards just a few feet away...
....It was not clear from the report exactly how Sabock died. The report states that he was in a hospital bed and later found unresponsive...
...The investigation released Monday said Sabock died in April after Cherry Hospital nurses left him unattended in a chair and did not feed him or help him to the bathroom."
So was he sitting or was he in the bed? While there is absolute evidence of a nursing shortage in this country, this is the worst story I have ever read.
Was the patient acutely ill or a danger to himself? Either way, do the nurses/CNAs do bed checks? What about meals - I know that if I ever miss a meal, when I am in the hospital the nurses log it. Patients are under the care - a ward of - the hospital.
When taking meds, nurses usually bring water make you take it in front of them, to make sure that you ARE taking them. I imagine if he was a mental patient, they would make him open his mouth to make sure he took it, right?
This is most disturbing. I have spent many months of my life in hospitals over my lifetime, with stays from overight in the ER to several weeks at a time. I have never gone longer than 2-3 hours without someone popping in and checking on me/my vitals. In fact, I get cranky when they wake me up to take vitals.
Anyway, the fact that other staff members - over FOUR SHIFTS - didn't take notice of him is appalling. The ward should be closed or re-staffed immediately, with proper oversight from the appropriate commissions.
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