2 Nurse's Aides Arrested On Endangerment Charges

WHITE PLAINS, NY — Two nursing home aides were arrested Wednesday for allegedly failing to monitor a resident with dementia and then altering records to cover up their neglect. State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said Certified Nurse Aides Janet Rose, 62, of Mount Vernon, and Verlanda Paulma, 25, of White Plains, were charged with felony first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and other charges.

They were employed at the White Plains Center for Nursing Care when, authorities said, on May 26 they failed to perform monitoring checks of an at-risk resident with dementia who wandered from the facility.

Video surveillance captured the resident leaving the home through an unlocked rear door around 7:54 p.m.

Schneiderman said, after the resident left, Rose and Paulma failed to perform required 15-minute checks that would have alerted the home that the resident was missing and that Rose falsely recorded that the safety checks were performed.

“Nursing home residents and their families place the highest level of trust in staff to protect residents,” Schneiderman said. “These arrests serve as a reminder of the serious consequences for neglecting nursing home residents — and even more for trying to cover it up.”

After the facility learned that the resident was missing at around 10 p.m., 911 was called. The White Plains Police found the resident uninjured and wandering alone almost 2 miles from the facility around 3 a.m. May 27.

Rose and Paulma were also charged with willful violation of health laws, a misdemeanor. Additionally, Rose was charged with first-degree falsifying business records, a felony.

Both face up to four years in state prison if convicted of the endangerment count.

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