Home health aide accused of tying dementia patient to chair agrees to forfeit certification – nj.com

The certification of a home health aide accused of tying a woman with dementia to a chair at a Gloucester County assisted living facility last year has been permanently revoked, officials said.

Afua Dankwah used a nightgown to prevent the 71-year-old from moving while the aide used a bathroom in the woman’s apartment at Juniper Village/Well Springs Assisted Living Facility in Monroe on Oct. 24, the state Office of the Attorney General said.

The supervising nurse at the facility found the patient tied up when she knocked on the door and used her key to enter after no one answered, according to investigators.

Dankwah, 51, of Morrisville, Pennsylvania, was charged with endangering another person and abandonment/neglect of an elderly, disabled adult. Those charges are still pending.

The state board of nursing, though, moved to revoke Dankwah’s certification because her actions exhibited “gross negligence, professional misconduct and engaging in a crime or offense of moral turpitude,” the attorney general said.

The woman had health aides assigned to her room 24 hours a day.

Dankwah signed the consent order on July 16 and the board of nursing finalized the revocation on Monday.

Health aides are employed by healthcare service firms and work under the direction of registered professional nurses to care for patients that require support.

A Juniper Village spokeswoman indicated that Dankwah did not work for the facility.

“This individual is not a past or present employee of Juniper Village at Williamstown,” the official said. “Therefore, Juniper cannot provide any information on this matter.”

Court records indicate the victim’s family hired Dankwah “at the recommendation of the facility” to provide 24-hour care because of the patient’s condition.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.