SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A Syracuse nurse aide recently pleaded guilty to hitting and pushing a male nursing-home patient last October.
Samantha Grover pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person in the first degree, the office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a news release issued last week.
The incident occurred on Oct. 17, 2015, at James Square Health and Rehabilitation Centre, a nursing home located at 918 James St. in Syracuse.
Grover struck a male resident in the face and pushed him causing him to trip and fall, hitting his shoulder on a piece of furniture.
As a result, the resident suffered from impingement syndrome of the right shoulder with a rotator cuff strain.
“Caregivers are entrusted with the health and safety of nursing-home residents, and to intentionally cause physical harm to a resident is a gross violation of that trust,” Schneiderman said in the news release. “My office will continue working to root out and prosecute nursing-home abuse.”
Onondaga County Court Judge Anthony Aloi set sentencing for Oct. 18. Grover will get five years of probation and four months of weekends in jail, the attorney general’s office said in an email response to a BJNN inquiry.
If Grover fails to appear in court or gets in any additional trouble, Aloi could sentence her to up to four years in prison, the office added.
The Syracuse woman had worked at the nursing home for four years, Schneiderman’s office said.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com