Iowa Nurse Fired For Her Mistreatment of Nursing Home Residents

An Iowa nursing home worker, Leann McVay, was recently terminated following multiple complaints about her poor treatment of residents.

McVay worked as a state-licensed nurse at Care Initiatives, one of the largest nursing home chains in Iowa. On March 18, some issues regarding her care of residents arose at Avoca Specialty Care.

McVay’s Poor Mistreatment of Residents

The daughter of a resident at the facility complained to a supervisor that McVay refused to call her mother’s doctor or examine her mother. Instead, she dismissed her mother’s call for help and pain medication, describing the woman as a “junkie” with “drug-seeking behavior.”

In another incident, McVay was accused of throwing feeding-tube devices at another nurse. According to an article in the Iowa Dispatch, state records show the woman had been reprimanded at another facility for similar behaviors.

McVay Denied Unemployment Benefits

Following her termination from Avoca Specialty Care, McVay sought unemployment benefits. Her efforts resulted in a hearing before Administrative Law Judge James Timberland. Upon reviewing evidence in her case, however, Timberland ruled that McVay was not entitled to unemployment benefits due to her “callous disregard” for residents.

McVay’s nursing license remains in good standing with no prior disciplinary actions.

Prior Cases of Terminated Iowa Nurses

Other nurses who were terminated by various Iowa nursing home facilities had different outcomes to their request for unemployment benefits:

• Nichole Van Houten, a nurse who resigned after a social media post led to a policy violation dispute with her employer. A judge determined that the city failed to prove Van Houten was guilty of any misconduct in the workplace.
• Stephanie Coble-Day was dismissed from Community Christian School of Fort Dodge. She allegedly mishandled program funding and also failed to report a serious threat. She denied both of the allegations against her. The judge who heard her case said Community Christian had not proven Coble-Day had committed misconduct in the workplace. Coble-Day was granted unemployment benefits.

Do You Need Legal Help for a Case of Nursing Home Neglect or Abuse?

At PKSD, we have a deep commitment to helping elderly residents who have been injured by abuse or neglect.

Call our law offices to find out if you may have legal options. An initial case review costs you nothing. You can also use this meeting to get answers to any questions you may have. Our experienced nursing home abuse attorneys in Wisconsin are happy to help. If we represent you, there are no upfront costs for you to pay.

We accept nursing home abuse or neglect cases in Iowa, Wisconsin and New Mexico.

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