Virginia Police Investigate Nurse Concerning Nursing Home Resident's Death

Dan Frith

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This is kind of scary!  A nurse who gave unauthorized medicine last week to a nursing home resident who later died has been fired, and now the local police are investigating.  The resident was given the medicine (as yet unidentified) on May 5, and died about 4 a.m. on May 6.  Police are investigating whether the medication caused or contributed to the death of John P. Stratton, 76, who was staying at the James River Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center in Newport News, Virginia.

The nurse's decision to give Stratton the medicine was not an accident according to a police spokesman.  It could take a month or longer for the toxicology results, performed by a state lab, to be completed and sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office. 

The facility is owned by Virginia Health Services (VHS), a private company founded in 1963.   VHS also owns The Newport in Newport News; Northampton Convalescent Center in Hampton; York Convalescent Center in Yorktown; Walter Reed Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center in Gloucester; and Lancashire Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center in Kilmarnock. 

I hope the nurse just made a mistake but if it was done intentionally....what kind of screening system did Virginia Health Services use when it hired this nurse?