As the long-term care industry continues to debate the responsibility of individual nursing home employees for residents, a trial has begun for an Ohio woman accused of neglecting a resident who died of hypothermia.
Megan Schnipke, 31, is accused of falsely charting that Hilty Memorial Nursing Home resident Phyllis Campbell was in her room on Jan. 7. Campbell, 71, had wandered into the courtyard and was later found dead.
A Putnam County, Ohio, jury is considering whether Schnipke, who was a licensed practical nurse, should be charged with forgery, gross patient neglect and patient neglect, the Lima News reports. Campbell was wearing a monitoring bracelet at the time, but it was improperly placed around her ankle. Alerts never sounded after her elopement, according to police records.
Attorneys for Schnipke argued that she is not criminally liable because of the malfunctioning alarms, failures by other staffers to follow procedures, and poor administrative policies.
Two nursing aides were indicted in Campbell’s death in May. In September, both received five years of probation, 60 days in county jail and 100 hours of community service. Destini Fenbert, 20, and Rachel Friesel, 37, both plead guilty to charges of forgery and gross patient neglect. The state dismissed felony charges against them for involuntary manslaughter.
