Nurses at an assisted living facility in Glendale are facing backlash for filming and making fun of elderly patients. The video ended up posted to the social media site 'Snapchat'.
The incident occurred at the Glencroft Senior Living facility.
An administrator from Glencroft told ABC15 that the facility cannot discuss personnel issues, but did learn about the video Monday morning and is taking the situation seriously.
On Tuesday, Glencroft Senior Living provided ABC15 the following statement regarding the incident:
Official Statement Regarding Videotaping of Resident
November 7, 2017
On Monday, November 6th at approximately 10 a.m., Glencroft Senior Living (“Glencroft”) management became aware of an incident regarding a videotaping of one of our residents in our skilled nursing facility, Providence Place. We understand this videotaping occurred on Sunday, November 5th.
Glencroft has a no-tolerance policy regarding such matters. We are currently conducting a thorough investigation with employees. To date, one such employee was immediately suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. Furthermore, this employee’s actions have been reported to the State Board of Nursing and the Arizona Department of Health Services for review for disciplinary action.
As Management is currently in the process of performing an internal investigation, our plan is to communicate the severity of this isolated situation with our employees and remind them on the importance of adherence to our internal and external policies and procedures, especially regarding the use of cell phones during working hours, social media usage, etc.
At Glencroft, we care very deeply about the well-being and safety of every resident. In an effort to ensure we are transparent with our residents and their families we have been in contact with the resident’s family.
We are happy to provide more information when it comes available.
Millie Oakeson
VP of Corporate Marketing
Oakeson added that at the time the statement was sent, three employees had been terminated.
The video taken by the employees shows an elderly woman using a walker as she advances toward the camera. She is obviously agitated, telling the workers she "almost fell" and is seen asking for her pills.
Instead of helping the woman, the nurses continue filming as they watch the woman and mock her.
The video came to light after a whistleblower saw it on social media and alerted ABC15, as well as Glencroft, and the Arizona state agency that licenses nurses.
She is also a nurse and said she knows the woman who made the video from nursing school.
"It just disgusted me that you would treat someone like this," said the whistleblower, who asked to remain anonymous. "This lady obviously has some dementia or something going on."
The whistleblower also said she is worried about violations of the patient's rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
ABC15 has reached out to the Arizona State Board of Nursing but has yet to receive an answer on this topic.
