Nurse caught on camera committing 'unhinged' act at patient's bedside that got her fired
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A nurse has been fired after a video showed her doing a 'disgusting' activity while leaning over a patient. The woman, who has not been named, was identified by bosses at Ottumwa Regional Health Center, Iowa, from a video shared on Facebook. In the clip, she can be seen flossing her teeth as she looks over patient Cole "Tiny" Cross in his hospital bed, who was being treated for congenital heart disease.
Cole raises his hand to try to get the nurse's attention throughout the footage - but she appears to ignore him and continue flossing. The clip went viral online after being shared by Cole's his best friend, Joe Bainbridge, and some who watched it demanded that the nurse lose her job or be moved to another part of the hospital.
One wrote "Omg....that's pretty disgusting behaviour. Praying for this poor fella", while another person said: "Someone needs to go and demand she stay out of his room." A different viewer described her decision to floss while tending to a patient as "unhinged", while someone else wrote: "Not to mention he was raising his hand trying to get her attention and was ignored. She needs to be fired." Another commenter said: "What in the world is going on here. She needs to be fired immediately.".
Ottumwa Regional Health Center says it has since suspended the woman in the clip and insisted the incident was "not a reflection" of the "great care" they provide to patients. A statement from the hospital said: "Ottumwa Regional Health Center has a zero-tolerance policy for actions that don't align with our core values. As soon as this unacceptable behaviour was flagged for us early last week, we addressed it, immediately suspending and then terminating the employment of the staff member involved.
