Waverly nursing home where living woman was declared dead is on probation

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The Waverly nursing home where a woman was wrongly pronounced dead is on probation.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services provided several documents to Channel 8 on Friday in response to a public records request.

The documents shed new light on how the mistake happened.

DHHS alleges that staff at The Mulberry at Waverly failed to follow the facility’s death declaration protocol — and that this was not the first time.

SEE ALSO: Woman taken to Lincoln funeral home while still alive

About 9:30 a.m. on June 3, a nurse pronounced 74-year-old Constance Glantz dead after being unable to find a pulse.

But the documents say the nurse did not check her blood pressure or have a second nurse double-check that she was dead. Both actions were required by the facility, DHHS said.

Glantz was transported in a body bag to Butherus, Maser & Love Funeral Home, where she arrived about 11:45 a.m.

The funeral director put Glantz on a table to start embalming her.

The mortician turned away and then “heard a noise, like a gasp or grunting sound,” the documents say.

The funeral director turned back around and realized that Glantz was breathing.

She was taken to a hospital, where she died.

The nurse who initially pronounced her dead was suspended, pending an investigation.

SEE ALSO: Lincoln hospice nurse details death declaration process after nursing home mishap

The incident, which made headlines worldwide, sparked a review of The Mulberry’s records.

Investigators with DHHS discovered that on April 27, a nurse declared a resident dead without documenting that their vital signs were taken, the documents allege. That nurse was also suspended.

On July 9, the state placed The Mulberry on a 180-day probation period.

The facility is also banned from admitting new residents until it has “demonstrated compliance, to the satisfaction of the Department, regarding all violations,” according to the documents.