Nurses at an assisted living facility in Glendale, Arizona are facing backlash for filming and making fun of elderly patients. The video ended up posted to the social media site 'Snapchat'.
The incident occurred at the Glencroft Senior Living facility.
An administrator from Glencroft told Phoenix-based KNXV that the facility cannot discuss personnel issues, but did learn about the video Monday morning and is taking the situation seriously.
The video shows an elderly woman using a walker as she advances toward the camera. She is obviously agitated, telling the workers she "almost fell" and is seen asking for her pills.
Instead of helping the woman, the nurses continue filming as they watch the woman and mock her.
The video came to light after a whistleblower saw it on social media and alerted KNXV, as well as Glencroft, and the Arizona state agency that licenses nurses.
She is also a nurse and said she knows the woman who made the video from nursing school.
"It just disgusted me that you would treat someone like this," said the whistleblower, who asked to remain anonymous. "This lady obviously has some dementia or something going on."
The whistleblower also said she is worried about violations of the patient's rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
KNXV has reached out to the Arizona State Board of Nursing but has yet to receive an answer on this topic.
