Nurses doubled over laughing as World War II veteran dies
Two nurses have lost their jobs after they were caught on camera laughing while an elderly man died in their care.
The family of World War II veteran 89-year-old James Dempsey hid a camera in his room so they could see how he was really being treated.
Video shows Mr Dempsey repeatedly pushing the button to call for nurses to help him.
"Nurse, help me, help me," he can be heard saying.
The 89-year-old was having trouble breathing.
When nurses do come to his room after a number of calls, they can be seen leaning on the bed and laughing as they try to start the oxygen machine.
Mr Dempsey's family sued the Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation Centre in the US in 2014, American broadcaster 11 Alive reports.
A statement from the centre says care has improved since then, under different leadership.
Broadcaster WXIA-TV said however, the nurses didn’t surrender their licenses until this September, after it sent The Georgia Board of Nursing a link to the video the nursing home fought three years to keep secret.
The nurses involved in the incident included a nursing supervisor who told attorneys that, when she learned Dempsey had stopped breathing, she rushed to his room and took over CPR, keeping it up until paramedics arrived.
However, the video footage shows that no one was performing CPR when she arrived and she didn't immediately start it.
After she was shown the video, she told the attorneys it was an honest mistake.
The centre and Mr Dempsey's family reached an undisclosed settlement.
Newsbreak - November 19
