According to the Oregon live web site, a judge had harsh words for a 53 year old nursing assistant who dropped a patient while transferring her from a wheelchair to a bed. "That place (the rehab centre where the carer worked) is set up for failure” he said.

The patient broke both her legs during the incident but wasn’t referred for an x-ray for 5 days despite being in obvious pain. She died the next day.

We are not sure of the method used for the transfer as the report simply states that a sling was used, but as there is no mention of a hoist, we assume it was something along the lines of inappropriate use of a plastic strap style sling.

The carer has received 30 days in jail, 640 hours of community service and three years of bench probation after a jury found her guilty of misdemeanor reckless endangerment following a five-day trial.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/judge_ha s_harsh_words_for_nurs.html

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