(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
This story was originally published by Iowa Capital Dispatch and is unaltered.
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Nurse who allegedly tied patient to wheelchair surrenders her license [1]
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- October']
Date: 2023-10-09
An Iowa nurse accused of using a bed sheet to tie a patient to a wheelchair has agreed to surrender her license.
In July 2023, the Iowa Board of Nursing charged Teresa King of Creston with committing an act that might adversely affect patient welfare. The board also charged her with excessive use of alcohol to the extent that it might impair her ability to practice nursing with reasonable skill and safety.
The board alleged that on Aug. 30, 2022, King pleaded guilty to a charge of drunken driving, and that on Aug. 20, 2022, while working at an unspecified care center, King wrapped a sheet around a resident in a way that restricted the individual’s movement or created a hazard.
Last month, King and the board agreed to a settlement that requires her to surrender her license to practice. She can apply for reinstatement in one year.
The Board of Nursing records provide no other information on the care-facility allegations, but state inspections reports indicate King was working at the Lenox Care Center on the day in question.
According to state inspectors, a female resident of the home was trying to leave the facility the evening of Aug. 20, 2022, when a nurse approached the doorway and grabbed her by the arm to force her back into a common area used by residents.
As she was pulled backward, the woman allegedly began to scream and cry out, saying, “Ow, stop, you are hurting me … You are abusing me, I know my rights.”
According to workers at the home, the woman fell to the floor and the nurse grabbed her by the shoulders and forcibly “slammed” her into a chair, and then instructed an aide to hold the woman down while the nurse wrapped a sheet around the woman’s legs to tie her into the chair.
According to the workers’ description of the incident, the woman “was fighting like hell to get out of the chair” and was screaming, “Help! Why are you doing this?” When the accused nurse was interviewed by inspectors, she denied having abused the woman.
Asked why she had asked a colleague to bring her a bed sheet, the nurse admitted making the request but said she quickly decided she “just could not do it” and so she never used the sheet — a claim that was contradicted by other staffers.
Federal officials fined Lenox Care Center $34,661 for the alleged physical abuse of a resident.
In 2009, the Iowa Board of Nursing charged King with using a controlled substance, alleging that while working at a nursing home she tested positive for marijuana and later admitted smoking marijuana the night before. The board placed King’s license on probation for one year.
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https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/10/09/nurse-who-allegedly-tied-patient-to-wheelchair-surrenders-her-license/
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