All the details in our Health Safety stories come from publicly available Final Orders, Consent Orders, Orders of Suspension and other documents from the Virginia Department of Health Professionals. For more information, see the Editor’s note below the story.
CHARLOTTESVILLE – Mitchell James Williams Jr. worked as a nurse aide for the psychiatry unit at UVA University Hospital East in Charlottesville.
On May 5, 2022, he was working around a patient. Williams told investigators the patient came into his personal space, and he tried to tell her not to touch him. She got closer.
A coworker sat about 15 feet from Williams. He did not call for them, later telling investigators “it didn't enter his mind” to ask for help.
A supervisor told investigators Williams was trained in crisis prevention intervention. As the patient approached, he did not use any of the techniques from the training. He told investigators later he did not recall the training as the patient approached.
He pushed the patient.
A surveillance video shows the patient fall backwards and strike her head against a wall. She grasped the back on her head and landed on the floor. She laid on the ground for several minutes.
Williams did not attempt to help her.
After the incident, the patient was taken for treatment at the UVA hospital. She felt pain in her “right occiput,” located at the back of the skull. A CT scan showed a “small vertex scalp hematoma,” also known as a bruise.
Williams' former supervisor said he failed to follow medical center policy when he pushed a patient. It was considered gross misconduct, and he was fired.
The Virginia Board of Nursing held a hearing on Williams' case in October 2023. They watched the video, spoke to investigators, and questioned Williams himself.
They ordered Williams' license be revoked in the December following the hearing. A finding of abuse was also entered against Williams, prohibiting him from working as a certified nurse aide in any long-term care facility that receives Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement.
*
To file a formal complaint against a health professional, click here . For links to the public information informing this story, see below.
Want to know if your doctors, other medical professionals or local pharmacies have been investigated? Check out the license lookup.
EDITOR’S NOTE: When citizens are a danger to the public safety, law enforcement arrests them and charges them with crimes; they have the opportunity to face a jury of their peers; if convicted, they serve time and/or probation that can often ensnare them in the system for years.
When a medical professional is an alleged danger to the public safety, the Virginia Department of Health Professionals handles all facets of the inquiry, including the investigation and penalties. And sometimes, even when a medical professional is found liable of doing harm to patients, they may face a reprimand, pay a fine and continue to practice, without missing a day of work and with little chance for the public to see what they’ve done.
The Health Safety stories in this series tell the facts of cases where medical professionals endanger our public health safety. They also bring you into the world of the medical board’s consent orders and public final orders, so you can see exactly how the VDHP’s self-policing system works.
Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It’s welcome through email to lbordelon@gannett.com . Subscribe to us at newsleader.com .
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Nurse aide shoves patient who got too close, loses his license
Most Popular
Comments / 0