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A supervising registered nurse at the Juniper Village/Well Springs Assisted Living Facility in Monroe Township discovered the abused victim during a visit to her apartment at last fall, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
The woman – who had round-the-clock health care -- had been “tied to a chair at the waist with a nightgown,” Bruck said.
Afua Dankwah, 51, of Morrisville, PA, “admitted tying the patient to the chair to prevent [her] from moving while she was in the bathroom,” the attorney general said.
Dankwah, who’d been separately hired by the victim’s family, was charged with endangering another person and abandonment/neglect of an elderly, disabled adult, he said.
The state Board of Nursing moved to permanently revoke Dankwah’s certification to practice as a homemaker-home health aide in New Jersey following her arrest, citing “gross negligence, professional misconduct, and engaging in a crime or offense of moral turpitude,” Bruck said.
She signed a consent order last month, and the board made the revocation final on Monday, he said. Criminal charges are still pending in Superior Court in Gloucester County, the attorney general added.
“Abuse and neglect of seniors and individuals with disabilities will not be tolerated,” Bruck said.
State authorities noted that healthcare service firms employ certified homemaker-home health aides, who work under the direction of registered professional nurses to care for patients who require support – among them, older people and those with illnesses or disabilities. They might help patients dress, bathe and use the toilet, and can prepare patients’ meals, tidy their rooms, do light laundering, run errands or assist with exercise.
“People across New Jersey rely every day on certified homemaker-home health aides for care and support,” said Sean P. Neafsey, the acting director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs. “We have to hold these caretakers to the highest professional standards to protect vulnerable New Jerseyans.”
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