Nurse jailed 16 weeks for attacking nursing home resident

Angered by a nursing home resident who was throwing a tantrum, a male nurse assaulted the 67-year-old man and caused him to be hospitalised for seven days.

After Flores Alvin Jay Vargas, 36, kicked and threw punches at the wheelchair-bound resident, he told a nursing aide not to reveal what he had done.

Yesterday, the Philippines national was jailed for 16 weeks after he pleaded guilty to one count of assault.

He is no longer working at the All Saints Home in Jurong East.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Niranjan Ranjakunalan told the court the incident had occurred at around 6pm on May 25 last year.

The resident, who was left with brain trauma injuries after a 2017 traffic accident, had asked for a knife to cut an apple.

He threw a tantrum when his request was turned down, said DPP Niranjan.

The resident then repeatedly pressed the call bell next to his bed and Vargas approached him to explain why staff could not pass him a knife.

However, the resident continued pressing different call bells, and he pulled and tore Vargas' shirt while the nurse was attempting to take a handheld bell away from him, added the DPP.

"The accused became angry and punched the victim - who was still on his bed - on his chest a few times. The accused then kicked the frame of the victim's bed and kicked the victim once on the right side of his body," said DPP Niranjan. Other nursing home staff who were present told Vargas to stop. He later messaged one of the witnesses and told her not to tell others what he had done, the DPP added.

The truth was uncovered two days later when the victim told his visiting brother about the incident.

A nurse at Orange Valley Nursing Home was jailed 12 weeks for punching a resident with dementia.

Bernardo Jr Perdido Ramos (above), 36, assaulted the 77-year-old after the man hit him once for "disturbing" him. Ramos retaliated by punching him four or five times in the face.

A male staff nurse lost his temper with an intellectually disabled patient in the Institute of Mental Health and kicked him in the back at least four times. S. Ahmad Shazaly S. Affindy (above), 27, was jailed six months for causing hurt to the 56-year-old man, who is unable to speak. The patient had thrown a food tray at Ahmad Shazaly's colleague, and Ahmad Shazaly was enraged when the patient refused to listen to him.

A Myanmese nurse was jailed a year for assaulting a patient from the Institute of Mental Health. Aung Phyo Thu, 26, admitted to punching and kicking Mr Kong Ah Hoe, 56, a long-term patient who suffers from schizophrenia. Mr Kong was restrained to the bed at the time and had difficulties communicating. The attack caused him two rib fractures.

The victim was sent to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital where he was warded for seven days.

Doctors found there was "suspicion of crack fractures" in the victim's ribs, although they could not confirm if the fractures had occurred.

In mitigation, Vargas' defence counsel said the nurse was deeply remorseful.

The sole breadwinner of his family, Vargas told the court he had since been dismissed by the nursing home.

District Judge Jasvender Kaur agreed with the prosecution's submission that Vargas should be given at least four months' jail.

She said patients should be safe and cared for by nurses who keep their interests at the "front and centre".

This was not a case where there was a single punch that can be attributed to a momentary loss of anger, she added, highlighting that Vargas had punched the victims a few times and kicked him in anger.