Nurse Drops Newborn Baby Fracturing His Skull, Police Investigation Underway
A nurse dropped a newborn baby, fracturing his skull, and now an investigation is underway.
According to a release from the hospital, the newborn infant slipped out of a 30-year veteran nurse’s arms, crashing onto the floor at approximately 6 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30.
Jacqueline Hunt, the baby’s mother, told WPXI-TV that the doctors had told her that the nurse was feeding and burping her 1-day-old son Eli when she allegedly became “drowsy and fell asleep and dropped him.”
According to CBC News, the Uniontown Hospital originally reported that the child sustained no injuries. However, he was later taken to the UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh where the pediatricians discovered that his skull had been fractured.
Uniontown Hospital spokesman Josh Krysak said the baby is expected to fully recover.
http://t.co/44cZ1ZAIfb Pittsburgh nurse drops newborn baby, fractures skull pic.twitter.com/ky7FF7LyYg
— WKTV (@WKTV) July 1, 2015
“We are aware that testing revealed a minimally displaced skull fracture, but we also know that all indications given to us point to a full recovery,” Krysak said. The hospital is currently conducting an internal investigation, and so far, the nurse has not been fired or placed on leave. Krysak says there is no reason to believe that the accident was intentional, and they are supporting their nurse completely.
“We’re supporting the nurse completely, and we recognize her dedication to her job,” he said. “There is absolutely no indication that there was any malice or intent involved.”
While the baby’s mother has recounted the events, saying that the nurse fell asleep and dropped her son, Krysak says they cannot confirm that information.
That family PAID RT @ABC7Chicago: ‘Drowsy’ nurse drops newborn at hospital, fractures skull http://t.co/JSzS9IgoSf pic.twitter.com/StUxSz8ci0
— AC Glizzy (@TrillAC_) July 1, 2015
“At this point, we can’t say whether that’s accurate or not,” Krysak said. “We have multiple reports that conflict a little bit about that.”
As of now, it is not known what shift the nurse was working when the accident happened, or how long she had gone without sleep. Krysak says if they discover that fatigue played a role, they will take measures at the hospital to keep something like this from happening again.
The hospital also released a statement following the accident.
“At Uniontown Hospital, we are committed to making a healthy difference in every life we touch and when such an unfortunate incident occurs, we take it very seriously and personally. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the child and the family. We are sorry that such a wonderful event has been overshadowed by an unfortunate situation. We are thankful that it appears that this incident did not result in significant injury and we will continue to work to ensure that we do all we can to prevent such incidents from occurring.”
A police investigation into why the nurse dropped the newborn baby is also underway.
[Photo via Shutterstock]
