WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Former nurse sentenced after patient dies

Former nurse sentenced after patient dies

By Elizabeth Donatelli - bio | email

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A former nurse pleaded guilty Friday to neglecting a patient who died under his care. Stacy Harrison, 49, was sentenced as the victim's grandson gave emotional testimony in court. 

"He was a man that survived a lot," said Alex Tsozik, grandson of the victim, Abram Lipsky. "He survived WWII and Nazis, but could not survive the facility that was there to take care of him."

Harrison was Lipsky’s nurse. He was employed by Hurstbourne Care. 

The Attorney General's Office says Harrison did not respond to several requests to check on an elderly resident and did not attempt to revive him after he stopped breathing.

"It hurts my family to know how he died - suffering, suffocating and alone," Tsozik said. "I wish we could have been with him when he passed. At least instead of fear, he would have felt love."

Harrison was sentenced on neglect charges, but his attorney, Sam Manly, argued that the neglect was not malicious.

"The assumption was that Mr. Lipsky had a Do Not Resuscitate order in effect and was not a full code patient," said Harrison’s attorney Sam Manly. "Had Mr. Harrison felt that he was a full code patient he would have responded accordingly."

Judge Audra J. Eckerle probated Harrison's 5-year sentence because Harrison agreed to give up his nursing license. 

"You are suspended from nursing in the entire nation for the rest of your life," Audra said.

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