Killer Caregiver?

Police arrested a nursing home nurse for killing two residents by insulin injection and the attempted murder of a third. The Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry filed charges against registered nurse Heather Pressdee. She worked at Quality Life Services in Pennsylvania.

Pressdee confessed to administering lethal doses of unnecessary medication. For two of the three victims, she allegedly admitted that she “felt bad for their quality of life” and “had hoped they would just slip into a coma and pass away.”

The medications caused the death of two patients and the hospitalization of a third. The charges include two counts of homicide, one count of attempted murder, a count of aggravated assault, three counts of neglect and reckless endangerment.

The victims of the alleged homicides include a 55-year-old man and an 83-year-old man. A third victim, a 73-year-old man, survived after emergency hospitalization. Pressdee drugged the men with insulin; two of the three were not diabetic.

“The allegations in this case outline the callous abuse of incredibly vulnerable patients by a professional nurse. As the charges indicate, these were deliberate and intentional acts perpetrated by a care-giver who was trusted to care for these victims.”

The nurse has a history of allegations of abuse. Several facilities previously disciplined Pressdee “for abusive behavior toward patients or staff”. She quit or was fired from 11 facilities since 2018. Turnover matters.

These types of episodes are not as rare as you may think but often are difficult to prove.