VA nurse fails to visit patients, lists dead patient as 'stable'

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VA nurse fails to visit patients, lists dead patient as 'stable'
Associated Press

A nurse responsible for monitoring care of frail military veterans didn't visit patients as required for two years and filed one report that listed a dead patient in stable condition, according to a federal inspection obtained by The Charlotte Observer.

Inspectors reviewed records last year of 10 seriously ill veterans at Hefner VA Medical Center who were housed in private nursing homes, five of which "did not meet the minimum threshold standards for quality of care," according to a report issued in September by the VA Office of Inspector General.

The VA nurse was supposed to visit patients at least quarterly, but she failed to do so for more than two years and visited only on "rare occasions" when requested. Inspectors found some veterans had suffered "significant weight loss," though the nurse's notes listed all patients as stable — including one man who had died 12 days earlier, the report said.

The nurse, who wasn't named in the report, is still employed by the hospital but is no longer responsible for nursing home visits, Hefner VA Medical Center spokeswoman Carol Waters said in an e-mail Wednesday to the newspaper.