Nurse fined W1 million for tying up patient to bed
A nurse was fined 1 million won ($900) for tying up an elderly patient to the bed to prevent her from going to the bathroom too often.Her supervisor, a doctor, was also accused of negligence.The Seoul Northern District Court Judge Park Ok-hee on Jan. 29 fined the nurse but found the doctor not guilty. She said, “The doctor may not have been aware of the problem. There’s not enough evidence.” The nurse, a Park, worked at the elderly hospital in Dobong district. The patient went to the bathroom too often, in Park’s opinion. She first diapered the patient.Then, she tied the patient’s hands and legs to each corners of the bed. In her defense, she said, ”The patient was unable to control her body, and yet she kept trying to move. I did it for the safety of the patient.” The Judge disapproved, saying, “The patient did have a condition. However, what Park did was not entirely for the patient. It was also for her own convenience. The nurse should have attended to the patient more closely. Tying the patient up was not the answer.”
