Family wants justice: Nurse charged with assaulting patient keeps license, works at different hospital
03/03/2017 12:54 pm PST
You go to the hospital to get better, but a Colorado family says that's certainly not the case for them. In fact, before things were over one of the nurses caring for their loved one was arrested.
Behind the doors of Denver's Swedish Medical Center, the treatment for at least one patient was slaps and blows, all coming at the hands of what one family says is the "nurse from hell."
Police say a nurse assaulted at least one patient in a hospital bed in the dead of night. Crime Watch Daily Denver affiliate KDVR reported Savannah Andryczak's alleged abuse.
Andryczak reportedly attacked Sirena Sisneros while another hospital employee was in the room.
"If she could slap my sister with a witness in the room, how many people has she done it to before, with nobody in the room?" asked Sirena's sister Raina Sisneros.
A police report says the hospital employee witnessed "Savannah slap the patient across the face in an aggressive manner."
The enraged family filed a police report against Andryczak, and she was charged with one count of assault. She has pleaded not guilty.
Swedish Medical Center subsequently fired Andryczak and reported her to the State Nursing Board.
But unbelievably, three months after the assault, Andryczak's license was still active. A spokesperson for the Colorado Board of Nursing issued this statement:
"Cases before the Colorado Board of Nursing are closed to the public by state law ... but any public disciplinary actions would be made public."
Tragically, Sirena Sisneros lost her life due to her illness just months after the alleged abuse.
The Sisneros family is furious that Andryczak's nursing license has not been revoked and she is now working at another hospital.
They say justice has eluded their family.
"I just want something to happen and get done, be done with this, so we can move on and do what we need to do, what's best for our family, and not only that, justice for my sister," said Raina Sisneros.
