According to the health officials, the difference between being in a coma and being in a vegetative state is that a patient in a coma is completely unresponsive, does not react to light or sound, cannot feel pain and whose eyes remain closed. Comas normally last for a finite period of time – days, weeks or even months. A patient in a vegetative state is still unconscious, but such a condition can be characterized by involuntary eye movement, teeth-grinding and facial expressions. Some patients in a vegetative state can remain so for years or indefinitely.
Per reports, the young woman who has been in coma for 14 years, got pregnant and gave birth at the nursing facility. This has led to police launching an investigation into the possible se* abuse of the patient.The woman stunned workers when she went into labor because they didn’t even know she was pregnant. The woman has been in a vegetative state for at least 14 years after a near-drowning incident. An employee at the facility, who didn’t want her name or face being used, said staff could not believe what was unfolding inside the victim’s room. “How could it happen? And just anger and sadness, and sick to my stomach,” the employee said. “None of the staff were aware that she was pregnant until she was pretty much giving birth.”
In a statement, the health care facility said it would also conduct an “internal review” to evaluate patient safety. “As an organization, HHC stands fully committed to getting to the truth of what, for us, represents an unprecedented matter,” spokeswoman Salmon said. “We are already conducting a comprehensive internal review of our processes, protocols, and people to ensure that every single resident is as safe and well cared for as possible. Anything less than that is unacceptable to our team, our company’s leaders and the communities we serve.”
The woman, who gave birth to a boy, is a member of the local Apache Tribe and has long been in a vegetative state, the tribe’s chairman said. Outlets are not reporting the woman’s name because she is the victim of se-ual abuse. “When you have a loved one committed to palliative care, when they are most vulnerable and dependent upon others, you trust their caretakers,” Chairman Rambler said. Police detectives served a search warrant seeking DNA from men who work there. Shortly after, a 36-year-old nurse, Nathan, has been arrested on suspicion of impregnating the woman. Nathan, a licensed practical nurse who was caring for the woman at the facility, has been charged with one count of se-ual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, according to CNN.
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