- A nurse at UnityPoint Meriter hospital in Madison has been suspended after five newborns were found with suspicious bruises
- One child was found with a bump on its head, a CT scan determined it suffered skull, rib and arm fractures
- Alarm was raised in February when two babies were found with bruises that escalated into the bump on the one child, found days later
- Two similar incidents were recorded last year as well
- The nurse has not been named
A nurse has been suspended from a Wisconsin hospital after five infants were discovered with serious injuries including a fractured skull, rib and arm.
At first the marks on the newborns were mistaken for accidents incurred when a baby clutches wire or an IV device at the UnityPoint Meriter hospital in Madison.
Last month, however, suspicion was raised on February 2 when staff noticed two babies had bruises. The following day staff noticed bruising on the arm and wrist of another baby. A doctor thought it could have been caused by a tightly wrapped blanket.
A nurse, who has been unnamed, has been suspended at UnityPoint Meriter hospital after five newborns were found with suspicious bruises
On February 4 staff found bruising on the second child’s face and three days later a lump on the infant’s head.
A CT scan conducted on February 8 determined that the child had skull and arm fractures.
The suspected nurse was then suspended. The nurse has not been named.
An internal investigation revealed another similar case from January, and two additional cases reported last year.
The hospital, above, has since adopted new security measures including a security guard and cameras in all of its rooms
A federal agency became so concerned with the hospital’s response it threatened to cancel the hospital’s Medicare contract, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
On February 23 the agency warned the hospital that the situation ‘is so serious that it constitutes an immediate threat to patient health safety’.
Meriter hospital spokeswoman Jessika Kasten says the hospital is cooperating with authorities and has implemented new safety measures since including a security guard in the newborn unit and cameras in all of its rooms.
In further changes at the hospital each nurse will now care for two patients instead of three in the unit of babies in intensive care.
The Madison Police Department is investigating the incidents.