Cops: No charges for nurse who refused to give CPR
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) - Police said Wednesday that no criminal charges will be filed after a care worker's attention-grabbing refusal to perform CPR on a resident of a Central California independent-living facility.
The Bakersfield Police Department said it has closed its investigation into the death of Lorainne Bayless, 87, who died Feb. 26 at Glenwood Gardens while a nurse there refused a 911 dispatcher's pleas to administer CPR.
The public release of the 7-minute recording caused national outrage, fueled further when the facility's owner claimed the nurse acted appropriately.
On Tuesday, Tennessee-based Brookdale Senior Living Inc. reversed itself and said the unidentified employee had misinterpreted the company's guidelines and was on voluntary leave while the case is investigated.
Nonetheless, Bayless' family said it was her desire to forgo resuscitation efforts and that she died of natural causes, which her family said was her "greatest wish." The family said it has no intentions of suing the company or seeking punishment for its workers.
"They wish no hardship on those who were witnesses," said Sonja Eddings Brown, a spokeswoman for the family. "It is natural for there to be an appropriate investigation, and if Lorraine's death helps other families to learn from it or prepare for the future, then not only was her life a great blessing, but in some small way her passing too."
Bayless collapsed in the Glenwood Gardens dining hall. Someone called 911 on a cellphone and asked for an ambulance. Later, a woman who identified herself as a nurse got on the line and told dispatcher Tracey Halvorson she was not permitted to do CPR on the woman.
Halvorson implored the nurse to find someone else and said she would instruct them on how to perform CPR.
"I understand if your facility is not willing to do that," Halvorson said. "Give the phone to a passer-by. This woman is not breathing enough. She is going to die if we don't get this started, do you understand?"
By the time paramedics arrived, Bayless had stopped breathing.
Bakersfield fire officials who responded said Bayless did not have a "do not resuscitate" order on file at the home.
The Bakersfield Police Department said it has closed its investigation into the death of Lorainne Bayless, 87, who died Feb. 26 at Glenwood Gardens while a nurse there refused a 911 dispatcher's pleas to administer CPR.
The public release of the 7-minute recording caused national outrage, fueled further when the facility's owner claimed the nurse acted appropriately.
On Tuesday, Tennessee-based Brookdale Senior Living Inc. reversed itself and said the unidentified employee had misinterpreted the company's guidelines and was on voluntary leave while the case is investigated.
Nonetheless, Bayless' family said it was her desire to forgo resuscitation efforts and that she died of natural causes, which her family said was her "greatest wish." The family said it has no intentions of suing the company or seeking punishment for its workers.
"They wish no hardship on those who were witnesses," said Sonja Eddings Brown, a spokeswoman for the family. "It is natural for there to be an appropriate investigation, and if Lorraine's death helps other families to learn from it or prepare for the future, then not only was her life a great blessing, but in some small way her passing too."
Bayless collapsed in the Glenwood Gardens dining hall. Someone called 911 on a cellphone and asked for an ambulance. Later, a woman who identified herself as a nurse got on the line and told dispatcher Tracey Halvorson she was not permitted to do CPR on the woman.
Halvorson implored the nurse to find someone else and said she would instruct them on how to perform CPR.
"I understand if your facility is not willing to do that," Halvorson said. "Give the phone to a passer-by. This woman is not breathing enough. She is going to die if we don't get this started, do you understand?"
By the time paramedics arrived, Bayless had stopped breathing.
Bakersfield fire officials who responded said Bayless did not have a "do not resuscitate" order on file at the home.
And again, the folks commenting here about DNR orders et al have NO IDEA what they are talking about. The woman in question was NOT a resident in a nursing home or assisted living facility, or any otther healthcare facility where a DNR could be in place. She was a resident in an INDEPENDANT living facility. In other words she rented an apartment with services/ammenities.
As someone who has spent a 30 year career in Senior Living management, (and no I am not affiliated with Brookdale) I 100% support the decision of the nurse and see no reason why shoe should lose her job or nursing license.
@EMDF9A I thought in this state we have a law where passing medical professionals have to render assistance. Sad they don't have one in that state. The nurse is despicable. If the patient didn't want to be helped, the nurse should have told 911 instead we got someone who had plenty of time to explain herself but chose to sound like she just didn't plan on helping or finding anyone - as a business practice.
Don't get your panties in a bunch! You don't know all the details but instantly label her despicable. We have the right to die without interference, regardless of what you think.
The woman was still breathing. CPR would have caused her great pain, probably broken ribs, maybe a punctured lung. And SHE DIDN'T want it! The nurse did the ethical, right thing.
@MamukA facility such as this needs to have its act together. This means POLST forms (no code orders) for those patients who do not want resuscitative efforts. The "breathing" described was likely "agonal respirations". Please take a CPR course and understand that this is not uncommon in patients who have arrested. It may "look" like irregular breathing, but it's not truly breathing. This particularly woman may well have wanted no CPR done... and if such is the case, this should be a lesson to have the proper form in place to honor that wish. Otherwise, 911 works off the assumption someone DOES want CPR... and yeah... a surprising number of older folks actually do. I'm not going to pass judgement on this particular nurse other than to say she communicated terribly with the 911 dispatcher. As for the facility she works at... they were negligent in not having the plan and proper form worked out ahead of time for this eventuality... Â and are utterly unethical if it is (as has repeatedly been stated by them in this case) their practice to not have their staff perform CPR on people in cardiac arrest as a standard.Â
@TruthinAdverts @Mamuk:  I agree with TruthinAdverts.  The breathing was probably agonal  respiration.  EMS personal work under the assumption that and unconscious person wants help unless there is something such as a DNR notice saying otherwise.  I question the nurse's integrity for not rendering aid but I find Brookdale's policy unconscionable.  As for Mamuk's fear of pain from CPR,  any pain or injury would be transitory.  I have gladly gone threw the pain of surgery and other medical procedures so that I can live a fuller, healthier, life.  Fear is understandable, but death is permanent!
No criminal charges but her license should be yanked.Â
No charges but i hope the state pulls her nursing License. Â She has no business being in the health care field if she is just going to sit back and watch someone die. Â She is a nurse. Â it is her job to help.
@FBrumfield Again, why should her license be yanked if she was following the residents DNR wishes?! The nurse did the correct and ethical thing!
@kelliellid @FBrumfield Read the last line of the article. Â
"Bakersfield fire officials who responded said Bayless did not have a "do not resuscitate" order on file at the home."
There was no DNR on record. Â So she did not do the ethical thing. Â She should have done CPR. Â
@kelliellid @FBrumfield She sure didn't mention that on the 911 call. Her excuse on the call was that it was how the business operated.
@kelliellid @FBrumfield It has been confirmed, again in this story that there was no DNR on file. I do not believe she should loose her license but I think this is a lesson we should all take to heart and ensure that we have proper forms on file, for ourselves as well as our loved ones.
"Nonetheless, Bayless' family said it was her desire to forgo resuscitation efforts and that she died of natural causes, which her family said was her "greatest wish." The family said it has no intentions of suing the company or seeking punishment for its workers."
This is the whole story. If anyone who had an elderly parent living in one of these homes will understand the agreements put in place about resuscitation. The nurse's only error was not making that clear in the 911 call.
As cruel as this call sounded, the duaghter understood the agreement and the wishes of her mother.
This is the reality of caring for your elderly love ones.
@snoopy84 That said, the woman didn't have DNR order on file, which could have cleared a lot of this up and avoided the sensationalism. Had there been a DNR, the nurse could have told the 911 operator, which would explain why she refused to administer CPR.
@tats76Â @snoopy84Â Can't argue that fact. That did bother me. The daughter was very convincing to me about her mother's wish on DNR. We went through this for my mother, but she signed the DNR before going into hospice and it was on file at her home and at the home.
The duaughter had no problem with how this was handled and very calm about her mother's passing. So, either she had a DNR in her filesor just relieved her mom passed peacefully.
But your right, a DNR should have been on file or if bed ridden, right next to the bed.
@tats76 @snoopy84 Exactly! What is the point of telling your family your "greatest wish" if you do not have them put it into legally and medically binding documents in the places where you will be treated and living? It just happened to be she collapsed and this nurse was an arse about it with 911. She could have just as easily collapsed anywhere else and no one would have known of her wishes and she would have been put through the things she wished to avoid in an attempt to extend her life.Â
Even telling a legal POA that you don't want extreme measures done to extend your life doesn't mean all that much when it hasn't been put down on paper to be waved under the hospital and doctor's noses to cover THEIRÂ butts when the patient passes on.
@tats76 @MHunt @snoopy84 I know of no hospitals in King County that ignore no code forms when death is from natural causes, provided those orders are clearly provided.Â
@MHunt  @snoopy84 Agreed. Some hospitals will even ignore a DNR, depending on the facility. Even if it was her wish, and she was ready to go, this is still probably a difficult time in her family's life, and now they have their Mother's final moments splashed all over the news.