On February 7, 2022, Patricia Ann Myler, a nursing home worker at two nursing home facilities in the Kansas City area, was charged (according to multiple news sources) “with seven counts of mistreatment of an elder person, six counts of identity theft, and three counts of computer crime.”
The investigation is on-going, which most probably means the investigators are looking for additional cases of identity theft.
Myler worked at the AdventHealth Care Center in Overland Park, Kansas, and then Villa St. Francis in Olathe, Kansas a year later. The investigation is primarily being conducted by the Kansas Department for Children and Families’ Adult Protective Services division. Her bond is set at $175,000.
On a personal note, a friend’s elderly mother was robbed by a healthcare worker in a Las Vegas nursing home facility and I have heard of other cases of similar fraud and identity theft. Chances are, you have as well. In fact, stories flourish across the internet on this very topic.
The Ethics of Neglect
Unless the heavens open up and intercede on behalf of Patricia Ann Myler, the 39-year-old will serve some jail time. Her life will never be the same. Unfortunately, she could share an entire wing in a major penitentiary with others who took the same nursing home provider path. So, in regard to the crime, there is nothing unique about this woman.
She saw the opportunity to steal from an unsuspecting geriatric resident, undoubtedly used credit card information to make purchases by assuming another’s identity, and lavished herself with gifts. It has happened before, and it will happen again. Unfortunately, it is not only ageism at its highest example (the wink of a Millennial at someone of the WWII generation), but abuse of a helpless person who, due to infirmity, could not care for themselves.
The Arguments
There are numerous arguments that always come to surface with nursing home crimes. The arguments are highly predictable e.g., the nursing homes pay too little; there is a shortage of qualified workers; the job is tedious and/or strenuous; facilities take advantage of patients, families and Medicare; there are inept administrators, and on and on.
Unfortunately, many of the above arguments have more than a ring of truth. However, the influences of those reasons have nothing to do with ethical decisions between the care providers and the patient.
Clearly, the time for sweeping reforms of the nursing home business (and it is), has long passed. If you have never taken a trip into a nursing home or elder care facility and peeked a bit just behind the scenes, you will understand how miserable the situation can be. And, I do believe it is stressful, strenuous and often distasteful. However, none of it has anything to do with unethical.
The contracts we must all make with one another are contracts of intention, doing the right thing, and it often involves helping those who cannot help themselves. The workers many homes need to “settle for” may not always be the cream of the crop, but it doesn’t mean there should be an absence of standards and ethical expectations. Nursing home salaries have increased. For an unskilled worker or recent immigrant, getting a foothold in a nursing home is not a bad way to begin in this country. There may be a much bigger conversation around nursing home profit structures but that is outside the purview of this post.
In our view, there must be a sharp increase in patient advocacy. Who was around when Patricia Ann Myler was taking advantage of patients? Who interceded on behalf of those patients? Why was no one apparently looking out for patient financial security?
Could there not be a financial intermediary who advocates for patients? It would not seem to be a major difficulty. Could the use of such intermediaries be a requirement for Medicare funding?
If we continue to do the same thing, we will surely get the same result. Something needs to change, if for no other reason than to realize that all of us will surely, one day grow old.
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