Senior facility defends nurse who refused to perform CPR on resident
Dispatcher Tracey Halvorson pleaded for the nurse to perform CPR
The Associated Press
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A central California retirement home is defending one of its nurses who refused pleas by a 911 operator to perform CPR on an elderly woman who later died, saying the nurse was following policy.
"Is there anybody that's willing to help this lady and not let her die," dispatcher Tracey Halvorson says on a 911 tape released by the Bakersfield Fire Department aired by several media outlets on Sunday.
"Not at this time," said the nurse, who didn't give her full name and said facility policy prevented her from giving the woman medical help.
At the beginning of the Tuesday morning call, the nurse asked for paramedics to come and help the 87-year-old woman who had collapsed in the home's dining room and was barely breathing.
Halvorson pleads for the nurse to perform CPR, and after several refusals she starts pleading for her to find a resident, or a gardener, or anyone not employed by the home to get on the phone, take her instructions and help the woman.
"Can we flag someone down in the street and get them to help this lady?" Halvorson says on the call. "Can we flag a stranger down? I bet a stranger would help her."
The woman was later declared dead at Mercy Southwest Hospital, officials said.
The executive director of Glenwood Gardens, Jeffrey Toomer, defended the nurse's actions, saying she did indeed follow policy.
"In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives," Toomer said in a written statement. "That is the protocol we followed."
Toomer offered condolences to the woman's family and said a "thorough internal review" of the incident would be conducted.
He told KGET-TV that residents of the home's independent living community are informed of the policy and agree to it when they move in. He said the policy does not apply at the adjacent assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.
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Heather Wilson Monday, March 04, 2013 8:28:19 AM This is crap. Lazy nurse who most likely has no CPR cert. Freak. 
Alison Grafals Krieger Monday, March 04, 2013 8:37:02 AM I am a CPR instructor and I think its disgusting, that these assisted living centers or anyone who works.
with the elderly can refuse to be certified or refuse training , or have these policies due to liability issues, I'm sure..... ~ DOING SOMETHING IS BETTER THEN DOING NOTHING ~ I hope the caller can sleep at night ~. 
Alison Johnson Monday, March 04, 2013 8:41:38 AM How can anyone holding a medical cert refuse care to a patient especially if she works there????? 
Randy Sanders Monday, March 04, 2013 8:42:41 AM What this boils down to is a company whose only interest is freeing up bedspace for yet another senior with plenty of insurance or funding and one foot in the grave, the other on a banana peel. Nursing homes (no matter how you call them), have always been notorious for raping a patients bank account or estate of funding and simply allowing the senior to die from neglect or lack of nursing care. That frees up the bed which is then filled with another "resident". It's all about money and not about patient or senior care at all. 
Lennard Fadlen Monday, March 04, 2013 8:43:51 AM ohhh how stupid , people who have degress do such stupid things. 
Don Snorek Monday, March 04, 2013 8:44:39 AM It begs the question, "Why have a nurse on staff" if this is their policy? Can't fix stupid I guess! 
Anna Golz Montgomery Thomas Monday, March 04, 2013 9:21:36 AM Most likly someone working on maintenance staff would have tried to help. A lot of lay people know basics of CPR.
Michael Moore Monday, March 04, 2013 8:52:29 AM Ok, my 2cents, Having dealt with homes. They lady and family were aware of this policy I'm sure. Was it morally correct? I ,,,,, could not have stood by and done nothing, even thou I most likely would have lost my job for violating "policies." 
Mark Caplin Monday, March 04, 2013 8:59:36 AM Although this seems horrible, and it is, the patient was 87. The employee has no duty to act, because she was not the patient's nurse. 
Dru Ross Monday, March 04, 2013 9:45:34 AM Hate to tell you, but you are wrong. A healthcare provider, such as a nurse or a paramedic, has a duty to act anytime he or she comes into contact with a person having a medical emergency, even if it is off of the clock. Even in the case of a DNR you still have to provide non-invasive supportive care to the patient. This is blatant negligence.
Andrew Okones Monday, March 04, 2013 9:08:38 AM I'm a EMT-Basic and the only reason not to perform cpr is because of DNR(Do Not Resitate) order. I have never heard of these policies. Ridiculous. 
Cybil Maddux Monday, March 04, 2013 9:29:56 AM "Wait with the person needing care" while that may be their policy, but it should say "including life threateningly cases, we will not intervene until ems arrives" maybe less people would go there. It says nowhere that full arrest is included in the failure to act. This is sickening. 
Becky Theroux Gockel Monday, March 04, 2013 9:37:10 AM I was shocked when I heard this news story the other night. She was an RN and her employer would not let her do her normal job function as she was trained to do....because of a stupid policy.
Barnet Wexler Monday, March 04, 2013 9:30:49 AM In theory, this can not happen in Canada. Here the bill of rights, actually obligates a person to give assistance in an emergency to another person to the best of your ability based on training and knowledge. Failure to do so can result in criminal prosucution as well as civil litigation. So the nurse who made the 911 call would have to prove that she is incompetant 
Stephanie Schneider Monday, March 04, 2013 9:36:17 AM Wait....isn't the whole point of an assisted living place is to assist the elderly, help them when needed, ok so if that is true....why the hell is CPR excluded from that!!! Dru Ross Monday, March 04, 2013 9:42:45 AM This is why, when I write my patient reports after transporting from a nursing home, I always put the words "skilled nursing facility" in italics.... 
Joel Stern Monday, March 04, 2013 9:54:47 AM wait with the individual needing care does not mean stand there and watch them suffer and die, it means wait with them and perform any medical procedures that might be necessary for that patient until ems arrives. I am an Emt in Pa., and Ive encountered my share of shady nursing practices in skilled nursing faciliies (rather unskilled nursing facilities) but I have never heard of, until now, of such disregard for such unprofessionalism and inhumanity like this. 
Vicki Chritton-myers Monday, March 04, 2013 10:02:39 AM They state they won't do CPR, which I find ridiculous. However, based on what facts I see here, the woman was breathing on her own. It doesn't state if she had a heart beat. If so, then you wouldn't do CPR on her, if she has a heart rate and is breathing on her own, would you? 
Mike Steinhart Monday, March 04, 2013 1:20:20 PM um....if they are breathing then they will have a heart beat....you can have a heart beat and not be breathing thought...so you are correct..if she is breathing then you BETTER NOT be giving CPR
Number Six Monday, March 04, 2013 10:06:46 AM She did'nt technically comply with policy if she refused assistance from the 911 operator who is trained to instruct cpr over the phone. 
Meg Passarella Monday, March 04, 2013 10:46:47 AM A lot of facilities have this policy and do not require staff (CNA, LPN, or RN) to hold a current CPR certification. Further more residents sign a statement that they have been informed of a "NO CPR FACILITY" 
Sue Hardy Monday, March 04, 2013 10:47:34 AM The policy was to stay with the person.. Did not state that while staying with the person that they could not provide life saving actions if needed.. I hope the persons family hits them with a wrongful death law suit .. Force them to rewrite their policies .. As to the nurse she aught to be ashamed of herself , something seriously wrong with her.. 
Donna Nelson Monday, March 04, 2013 10:49:53 AM Did the women have a signed DNR? 
Crystal Munro Monday, March 04, 2013 10:56:13 AM No. If you listen to the 911 call the Nurse said the were not permitted to give CPR at the assisted living home.
Jt Lawson Monday, March 04, 2013 11:02:30 AM Y'all calm down. This is a policy that is put in place because of lawsuits from sue happy people for breaking ribs while performing CPR and it happens. All the time... Donna Nelson Monday, March 04, 2013 11:05:23 AM Where is this home located......Canada, USA or? In Canada the law would come down real hard on a Nurse that refuses to care for a resident. unless the DNR was signed. 
Joe B. McDaniel Monday, March 04, 2013 2:10:53 PM it's in Bakersfield California USA. I used to work for Hall Ambulance, on Bakersfield, but I'm not familiar with this facility it was not there when I worked there Joe B. McDaniel Monday, March 04, 2013 2:09:52 PM I would imagine the pt, was in some sort of resp distress, that later lead to her coding, no you don't do CPR on someone breathing however you can help to support her breathing by administering 02 or even using a BVM to support resp effort. My next thought is that this so called nurse may be more or less an aid & therefore not allowed to do anything. If this is more like a resident facility & not a fully operational medical facility providing full time nursing care then medical tx will be limited. I know that in several cities where I have worked some facilities are like this. The staff is very limited to what they can do, I've run calls like this in OKC, & Ft. Worth. The facility is more concerned with lawsuits over someone incorrectly treating a resident then someone doing anything at all. I've even run calls to Doctor's offices where not one single person had a valid or had even been trained in CPR. I do agree with most of the post on this topic & it's sad because the facility is probably all about the $, however had this staffer not followed policy I'm sure they would have fired her. It's sad & I think they should change the current policy & @ least allow the staff to follow the directions of the EMS dispatcher, but I doubt they will. I also think we the readers don't have all the info needed to really be objective about this, but it makes one pause & think about the care being provided to the elderly. It's sad, very sad. 
Sam Lewis Jr Monday, March 04, 2013 4:03:26 PM they're not a nursing staff, they feed and medicate based on orders set up by an absentee doctor, they may have titles and certifications but that's only for show. 
Sally K. Houg Massaro Monday, March 04, 2013 5:15:22 PM LET'S WAIT FOR THE WHOLE STORY---How about that! 
Dawn Teeter Monday, March 04, 2013 6:27:18 PM I would like to know what nurse(if you can call yourself that) would allow anyone to die...Isn't there some kind of oath you take when you become a nurse...well in my own view point...what happened was a disgrace...i know that none of my family members will ever end up in such a heartless place! 
Lawrence Amster Monday, March 04, 2013 7:45:51 PM The real question is whether the State of California should revoke the nurses license. I think they should and she should be charged as an accessory, in this womans death. Do nurses not take an oath upon becoming a nurse? To help heal people, not just let them die.... How can this woman sleep at all knowing she could have saved a life and did nothing... I hope it haunts her for all eternity. 
Mark Trig Spencer Tuesday, March 05, 2013 6:43:09 AM I wonder if it was a young member of staff that had collapsed instead. would she of helped then!!! 
Richard Cooper Saturday, March 09, 2013 12:35:03 PM Who would even think of having a loved one go to this facility or any other owned by this company? An RN refusing to give CPR? If anyone in my family was there they'd be out by now. 
