A Marmora, Ont. mother says she will sue Quinte Health Care after her infant fell – fracturing his skull – while a nurse at Belleville General Hospital was feeding him.
Apologetic hospital officials say they are investigating the “unusual and unfortunate incident” involving a “very experienced, highly-qualified, great nurse.”
Mother Kelsey Bond and QHC senior staff confirmed her son, Keiran Keller, fell Feb. 20. He was a patient in the special-care nursery in the hospital’s Quinte 7 maternity department.
“I received a phone call at eight o’clock in the morning saying that the nurse had fallen asleep feeding him and woke up to him crying on the floor,” said Bond, 19. She said the call came from the department’s manager.
The nurse is not suspended; she has not been fired; there is no punishment for her
“She said she was sorry … and that a pediatrician had looked at him and said he was fine.
“I was more or less in shock, so I didn’t really say anything,” said Bond. “I just kinda hung up.
“My husband (Kyle Keller) was losing his mind,” she added.
Senior director Susan Rowe would not confirm the nurse’s identity.
A hospital document, a copy of which was provided by Bond to The Intelligencer, reports a registered nurse “was feeding baby on her lap, and she fell asleep.
“Next thing she noted baby on floor, baby possibly slid down from her lap but mechanism of fall is unclear; Keiran cried, no documented loss of consciousness … Assessed by the pediatrician on call after the fall and no abnormalities were noted.”
Bond said the fall happened at 3 a.m.
“They didn’t call me for five hours,” he said. “You’re supposed to be notified right away.
“The nurse is not suspended; she has not been fired; there is no punishment for her,” Bond said.
Corporation vice-president and chief nursing officer Carol Smith Romeril would not disclose certain specifics of the case, including how the baby may have fallen, at what time, and what she described as human resources issues.
Keiran Keller and his twin, Kayden, were born in Kingston General Hospital Dec. 23 at 29 weeks of gestation – more than two months premature. Kayden was transferred Feb. 3 to Belleville General; Keiran followed three days later. Both remained in the special-care nursery.
Kayden was released Feb. 10 but Keiran, who had a lung condition and other health problems, remained in hospital.
Bond said she was feeding Kayden when the manager called to report Keiran’s fall.
She tried to arrange transportation to the hospital but said it was difficult because she was caring for Kayden and her eldest son, Keegan, who’s nearly two.
I had a gut feeling that everything wasn’t OK
Bond said she called the hospital and “asked them to do a head ultrasound.” She and her mother-in-law, Lisa Keller, arrived that evening at BGH.
“It did look like his head was a little bit swollen and red on the left-hand side,” Bond said of Keiran. She added a second pediatrician assured her the baby was all right.
“I had a gut feeling that everything wasn’t OK,” said Bond.
“We’ve already almost lost him once,” she continued, and she believed it to be “really risky” to remain at the hospital, so she asked for Keiran to be transferred to Kingston. That happened Feb. 21 via ambulance.
Bond said she requested another ultrasound. That was followed by a CT scan. The latter revealed a depressed fracture in Keiran’s skull and an acute subdural hematoma – the collection of blood between the brain and skull, the documents show.
Keiran stayed in Kingston until Feb. 27, when he was released after another ultrasound, his mother said.
But he didn’t feed well and became dehydrated, she said, so she took him to Peterborough Regional Health Centre instead of Belleville. From there he was again transferred to Kingston and released March 2.
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Since then, said Bond, “he seems to be doing better” but remains more of a “high-needs” baby than his twin.
She said medical professionals told her his head may not heal for six months to a year. She also said he has a May appointment for a special development clinic and she’s concerned about long-term effects from the fall.
In a telephone interview, Quinte Health Care’s Carol Smith Romeril was quick to apologize.
“We are devastated and so sorry that this baby fell while in our care,” Smith Romeril said.
“This is a very experienced, highly-qualified, great nurse,” she said.
“The nurse reported this incident immediately … under the normal procedures.
“The staff are just excellent and provide really compassionate and professional care. Our staff are also human and so when things like this happen we are really sorry.
“We certainly recognize and apologize for the anxiety and the stress this has added to the family despite the fact they’ve been through so much already,” Smith Romeril said.
“We have provided direct apologies.”
Smith Romeril said QHC officials investigate such cases and include patients and families in the process, making them aware of any resulting recommendations for avoiding repeat incidents.
Smith Romeril said she wants the public “to still have confidence in the care that’s provided here.
“This is a very unusual event and I think the assurance in the care is a long history of excellent and wonderful care,” she said, “and I don’t believe this unusual and unfortunate incident that we’re apologizing for negates all that.
“I think we still are able to provide that excellent care.”
Senior director Rowe said about 1,500 babies are born in the hospital each year. The corporation logs cases of “critical incidents” of unintended events during care which have “an adverse effect on the patient.” They include medication errors and infections acquired while in hospital.
There were five critical incidents in total between April 1, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2016 at QHC’s four hospitals in Belleville, Picton, Bancroft and Trenton, she added.
Rowe would not address directly Bond’s statements that the full extent of Keiran’s head trauma was not revealed until Keiran was in KGH.
“This would all be part of our ongoing investigation and what we will be speaking directly to the family about,” wrote Rowe.
Smith Romeril said no extenuating circumstances contributed to Keiran’s fall but that QHC’s investigation would look at a broad range of factors, possibly including lighting, chair designs and traffic in the department.
She refused to discuss whether the nurse had or could face discipline, adding commenting publicly could deter staff from reporting other incidents.that could change how staff respond during such incidents.
“We can’t have people thinking that they’ll automatically lose their jobs or be reprimanded for a human mistake.”
Bond said she is “frustrated” and “irritated” and not satisfied by any apology.
“An apology doesn’t fix what happened,” she said. “This is my child’s life.
“When I think about it, my heart’s basically in my stomach.”
She said the nurse remained in the same role; Smith Romeril would not comment. Bond said she feels the nurse should not be allowed to work at BGH, on late shifts or with children, though she did not oppose entirely her working as a nurse.
“If she was tired she shouldn’t have gone to work.
“She’s risking children’s lives, and these aren’t just normal, full-term babies. They need special care.”
Bond said she filed a complaint with the College of Nurses of Ontario. The college’s website lists nurse named by Bond as being licensed since 1984 and entitled to practise without restrictions.
College spokeswoman Angela Smith reported via e-mail no information on the case was available Friday.
A request for comment from the Ontario Nurses’ Association was not answered by press time.
Bond said she had not contacted police but claimed the Children’s Aid Society is investigating the hospital. She claimed if she had dropped Keiran “it would have been considered child abuse.”
Mark Kartusch, the executive director of the Highland Shores Children’s Aid Society, said he could neither confirm nor deny society involvement. Staff do not comment publicly on client matters for privacy reasons, he said.
Speaking generally, Kartusch said a case involving child harm while in the care of a “community caregiver” such as a school or hospital could lead to a society investigation within seven days of the incident.
The society may contact police or the regulatory organizations of various professions, he said. The society cannot lay charges.
Belleville Police Insp. Chris Barry said police have no record of Keiran’s case, though incident reports are not always filed immediately.
Bond said she’s spoken with a Kingston lawyer. An interview could not be arranged by press time Friday.
“We are doing a lawsuit for neglect,” she said. Bond said it was too early to estimate the amount of financial compensation the suit would seek, but that she wants Keiran to be compensated.
Liability for any such damage must be proved in court.
No statement of claim has been filed, she said. Bond predicted a lawsuit could take years and hinge upon Keiran’s future development.
She said she is not interested in further talks with QHC.
“There’s not too much they can do at this point,” she said. She also said she will not take her children there for future care.
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