Former VA Nurse Arrested After Filing Bogus Reports In Patient’s Death

A former nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs is facing jail time after a patient died under her care. Inspector General Stephen Street says 58-year-old Cheryl Poirrier was the on-duty nurse the night a resident fell at a Veterans Home in St Charles Parish. Street says after a fall, it’s Veterans Affairs policy to check the patient’s neurological signs for the next 72 hours.

“Ms. Poirrier did not do those checks, and furthermore after the patient was discovered to have died in the night, she entered a bunch of false records into the computer system indicating that she had done the checks,” Street said.

Some eight hours after the patient’s fall, he was found unresponsive in his room and it was determined that he died during the night. Street says Poirrier has been charged with multiple felony offenses, and she could spend some time behind bars if convicted.

“She was arrested for one count of malfeasance in office and four counts of filing false public records,” Street said.

Street says this kind of behavior cannot be tolerated, especially with our veterans. He says this is criminal conduct, and his office is treating it as such.