Tamara Hager Brito, a nurse formerly employed at Iredell Memorial Hospital in Statesville, N.C., is denying allegations that she assaulted a 91-year-old dementia patient, according to WBTV.
Ms. Brito was arrested and charged with two counts of assault and one count of false imprisonment Monday. Ms. Brito has since been released on a $20,000 bond.
The allegations were first reported by the patient's granddaughter. On one occasion, Ms. Brito allegedly tied the patient to his bed when he became uncooperative. Patients in that area of the hospital are not permitted to be restrained in this manner. A few days later, it's alleged that Ms. Brito sprayed the patient in the face with cleaning lotion.
Ms. Brito's attorney, Martin Gottholm, spoke with WBTV.
"Boy do I look forward to our day in court," said Mr. Gottholm, noting that his client has an unblemished thirty-year nursing record.
When asked about Ms. Brito's side of the events, Mr. Gottholm said, "She took a pillowcase, folded it over about four times, taped one end of it to the bed frame with the extra remaining taped it to the patient's wrist just so he could not hit her or other staff members, which had been happening for the past month and had not been addressed at all by hospital administrators."
Mr. Gottholm also said there was no tape directly applied to the patient's skin — pillow cases were wrapped around the patients arms prior to application. He also denied the accusation that Ms. Brito assaulted the patient. He described a situation in which the accused nurse sprayed something in a wash cloth to clean applesauce from the patient's face.
"This is truly a travesty of justice," Mr. Gottholm added. "[Ms. Brito] might have violated their policy but she actually was caring more for the patient."
The hospital has terminated Ms. Brito and is currently cooperating with police in the investigation.
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