Nurse sentenced to over 3 yrs in prison for removing patients' nails

Davey

先輩

Contributor

5 Feb 2005

7,694

627

• 25 Jan 2006

• #1

From Kyodo news
Nurse sentenced to over 3 yrs in prison for removing patients' nails
Monday January 23, 11:00 AM
(Kyodo) _ A former assistant nurse was sentenced Monday to three years and eight months in prison by the Kyoto District Court for tearing off the nails of six female patients at a hospital in the city in 2004.
Akemi Sato, 32, removed the nails of six female patients who were immobilized for health reasons at Jujo Hospital between September and October 2004 for stress relief, according to the indictment.
Her defense lawyers had sought a lenient verdict, saying she suffered from a mental deficiency. But prosecutors, who had sought a six-year prison term, argued that she should be held responsible as she had targeted only those who could not express their intentions.

 

silver angel

Resident Latina

26 Sep 2003

1,386

38

• 25 Jan 2006

• #2

the whole nail off the finger? Or just trimmed them? Yikes, six years is a lot...

 

Grandpa Frank

Sempai

Admin

Twenty-year veteran

21 May 2003

14,310

4,404

• 25 Jan 2006

• #3

Here In Maine (us).....

state law says I can not touch a patients toe nails and I can only clean and file fingernails, no cutting of any kind by a CNA.

Frank

☝

 

Kinsao

Horizon Rider

8 May 2005

8,515

143

• 27 Jan 2006

• #4

It says "tearing off the nails", so it makes me think it's the whole nail... ouch. ☝

Unless they meant she tore off the top part of the nail... the white part... :? Like if it was ragged, you know if you don't have scissors, you can sometimes tear off a piece of nail? But I think they mean the first thing...

Frank: is that for some reason to do with having sharp objects near people, like if you cut them by mistake they could sue you or something? That's stupid... I mean, I can kinda understand it in case someone did get cut with scissors by accident, but the toenails thing is crazy... some old persons can't reach down to cut their own toenails... must feel horrible...

 

Y

Yokan

Sempai

28 Aug 2005

619

4

• 17 Feb 2006

• #5

hmm...Are they generally so harsh with sentences? Then again, in all countries the charges of any crime seems to becoming more harsh. 3 years though...Woah!

 

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Twenty-year veteran

15 Mar 2002

16,758

2,298

• 17 Feb 2006

• #6

Yokan said:

hmm...Are they generally so harsh with sentences? Then again, in all countries the charges of any crime seems to becoming more harsh. 3 years though...Woah!

Click to expand...

Why does three years strike you as being harsh?

We're talking about a health care provider, in a position of trust and responsibility, wantonly engaging in acts of cruelty. Acts which are generally only heard of in the context of torture.

I thought the prosecutor was being too lenient in only asking for six years.

 

Tokis-Phoenix

先輩

23 Sep 2005

1,295

76

• 17 Feb 2006

• #7

I agree with Mike, 3yrs is definatly not a harsh sentence considering this was a person who had complete control over her patients and held a position of much trust- just because the patients were immobilized does mean they could not feel pain. Who knows what her issues could have led to if she wasn't caught out, she may have done far worser acts of torture eventually to people who couldn't defend themselves?