Across Australia's vast number of nursing homes a shadow of fear has fallen and this is duplicated in the homes of those whose loved ones are being cared for in their twilight years. A case is being heard in a court where a trusted nurse is accused of willfully murdering two of her patients because they dared complain about her sloppy service of care.
It seems inevitable that many helpless older people will feel fear when their carers proffer their daily medication. The element of trust between the cared and their carer has suffered doubt. The rumour mill will run wild - and the honest, dedicated people who serve in nursing homes will find their reputation tarnished.
This was a nurse forty-nine years old with a problem that had resulted in three "incidents " where misconduct had resulted in increased supervision. As a result it seems that, she was experiencing employment difficulties and had only held her position at the nursing home for a short period.
The prosecution alleged that three elderly patients lodged complaints about her standard of nursing and the following morning two of them were found to be comatose - and both shortly died. One was 75 and the other 82 - and neither was Diabetic. The coroners inquest found that both had been injected with Insulin.
Diabetes is caused by elevated sugar/glucose levels in the blood and is common in older people who do not watch their diet and lack exercise. Blood sugar levels are checked several times daily and if the Pancreas is not delivering sufficient Insulin the correct level is then maintained by injections. An unneeded and high level of Insulin can be fatal.
During the prosecution evidence was given that this nurse commented - while watching the television programme CSI - how easy it would be to commit murder without leaving incriminating evidence. She suggested that an overdose of Insulin in an elderly person would quickly dissipate and because of their age an inquest would be unlikely.
No doubt this trial will run its course - and many people will remember a nursing home fire several years ago where several patients were burned and more died as an aftermath result. Again this was caused by a nurse, addicted to drugs and in charge of the drug store - who committed arson to try and cover discrepancies in a coming audit.
The elderly have every right to have confidence in the vast number of dedicated people who work in nursing homes. The chances of death at the hands of such a murderer are probably even more remote than being struck by lightning.
What will cause a degree of anxiety is the publicity this trial has given in the public arena. When the general public thinks of poison the names Cyanide, Arsenic, and a few others popular in detective stories comes to mind. What we had just made known to the masses is that Insulin can be deadly if it is used in quantity, and it is unlikely to be detected if a regular Insulin user is given on overdose.
What an invitation to the greedy waiting for a rich old relative - who happens to be a diabetic - to die. !
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