Pa. psych aide admits giving patient nails to eat

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Aug 28, 11:23 AM EDT

Pa. psych aide admits giving patient nails to eat

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- A Pennsylvania mental hospital worker has admitted giving four nails to a patient and getting her to swallow them.

Athena Marie Sidlar, a former 28-year-old psychiatric aide trainee at Allentown State Hospital, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Lehigh County Court to reckless endangerment.

Police say that in January, she showed an 18-year-old female patient how to swallow nails. Four nails had to be removed from the patient's stomach.

Sidlar says she has bipolar disorder and swallows nails and other metal objects. Her attorney, Ettore Angelo of Quakertown, said his client is trying to battle her affliction.

She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 8.
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I believe the reckless endangerment charge isn't enough. Will this psychiatric aide trainee be banned from ever being around the care of any persons, particularly those that are elderly, disabled or children. I think they should also be banned from ever being able to work anywhere they would be involved with the care of animals. I have sat here and tried to imagine WHY anyone would do this, let alone someone that was training to work with psychiatric patients. The only things I can think of are 1) the person is truly evil 2) this person is in need of psychiatric eval themselves. And then I wondered who was supposed to be monitoring/overseeing this aide and if they've done anything else to any other patients?