Nursing assistant fired after being accused of hitting 98-year-old woman

According to Florida Department of Health, a 98-year-old woman, who has dementia, was punched in the head twice by a nursing assistant at ManorCare in East Naples.

Officials say the woman tried to protect herself by holding her hands up defensively.

And it was another employee at ManorCare who witnessed it and reported it, ultimately leading to the nursing assistant being fired from her position at ManorCare.

Documents from FDOH say, after the attack was reported, assistant nurse Yvrose Neus was fired.

Dr. Jaclynn Faffer, the CEO and president of Naples Senior Center, says this does happen often.

“And it becomes worse when the patient is cognitively impacted and perhaps doesn’t have the judgment he or she should have,” Faffer said. “That’s when they become even more vulnerable.”

And an elderly woman at ManorCare in East Naples was just that — vulnerable an d suffering from advanced dementia.

We went to Neus’s address to ask her why she would do this, but she was not home.

“You can have all the licenses and a great background check,” Faffer said. “But you have to have someone who is compassionate.”

The state says the conduct would’ve likely continued, and the nursing assistant presented a risk of immediate, serious danger to the health, safety and welfare of the public.

Faffer says it’s important for the patients to feel safe.

“Right now, isolation and loneliness has almost become the norm,” Faffer said. “So there is a tendency to want to trust a little bit more.”