PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A nurse at a Pembroke Pines hospital is facing a charge of abusing an elderly or disabled patient after police accused her of slapping a patient with autism multiple times earlier this month.
According to a police report, Shedsie Exceus, 36, was angry that the man, who is “low-functioning” and requires constant care, soiled himself.
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The report states that Exceus, a nurse at Memorial Hospital Pembroke, “apparently does not like to clean patients,” and slapped the man twice in the leg, then twice in the shoulder and head area.
According to police, a fellow overnight nurse, who witnessed the Feb. 14 incident and reported it to her manager, told officers that Exceus turned to her and said: “Close your eyes baby girl, you didn’t see anything.”
“(Exceus) then went to the sink and shut off the warm water they were using to bathe the victim,” Pembroke Pines police Officer Kevin Borrero wrote in the report. “(She) then opened the cold water and grabbed some paper towels and soaked them with water. (She) then sprayed the victim with cold water and stated that he was going to bathe with cold water today as a form of punishment.”
Borrero wrote that the victim began biting himself after Exceus hit him.
Police said they went to Exceus’ home in Hollywood, where she denied the allegations, saying “she was just holding the victim down and never struck him.”
Exceus told officers the man “usually needs several nurses to hold him down because he is a large male,” Borrero wrote.
She was released from custody on Feb. 15 on a $5,000 bond.
Local 10 News has contacted Memorial Healthcare System seeking comment and an update on Exceus’ employment status.