Failure to Honor Resident's Advance Directive
Summary
The facility failed to honor a resident's advance directive choices, resulting in a serious deficiency. The incident involved a resident who had a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order documented in the electronic health record. However, when the resident became unresponsive, the staff did not follow the procedure to verify the code status in the electronic record. Instead, they relied on a physical binder, which did not contain the necessary documentation due to an oversight by the Social Service Director. The staff nurse, upon finding the resident unresponsive, checked the electronic record and confirmed the DNR order but second-guessed herself and looked for the physical document in the binder, which was missing. Consequently, the nurse called 911 and initiated resuscitation efforts, contrary to the resident's documented wishes. This action was based on the facility's outdated practice of relying on the physical document as the primary source of verification, despite the electronic record being the official source. The incident was further complicated by the nurse's failure to communicate the resident's DNR status to emergency responders, leading to the continuation of resuscitation efforts upon their arrival. The facility's policy required that the electronic health record be the primary source for verifying code status, but this was not adhered to, resulting in a breach of the resident's rights and the facility's procedures.
Plan Of Correction
Resident # 1 was transferred to Good Samaritan Hospital and was pronounced at 5:51AM in the ER by Hospital personnel. No further corrective action could be taken. An audit was completed on current residents by the Unit Managers to ensure that residents with a have Form 1896 with appropriate signatures and date in their medical record and a copy in a red binder located at each nurses station. Irregularities were immediately corrected. Code status for new admissions and re-admissions will be reviewed daily Monday to Friday in AM clinical meeting by the Inter Disciplinary Team and on weekends by the Nursing Supervisor to ensure medical records reflect accurate code status and a copy of Form 1896 that is appropriately signed and dated is uploaded in the EHR and a copy is in the binder at the nurses station if there is an order present. An audit of crash carts located on each nurses station was completed on by the Director of Clinical Services to ensure equipment was readily available in an emergency. An audit was completed on by the HR Manager to ensure that current Licensed Nurses have a valid license in place; one nurse had no current on file but has since been completed on. Newly hired Licensed Nurses cards will be verified during the Orientation process. Current Team members were reeducated started on by the Director of Education and/or Designee on Code status, policy, and neglect and validation of code status in PCC. 100% compliance was achieved on License Nurses Education to include policy and procedure written post quiz on code status and code procedures for all licensed nurses, checking code status in PCC by a Licensed nurse if a resident was discovered to be pulseless prior to initiating. Attestations were signed for acknowledgement and understanding of policy. New hires will be educated on the policy during the orientation process by the Director of Education/designee, with written post quiz to ensure competency. Enhanced Code blue drills were conducted started on on the shift, every shift x 7 days, then every other day on different shift x 7 days, then weekly x 7 then one on each shift monthly to include weekends by the Director of Education and/or designee. Re-education post drills as needed. Code Blue Drills will continue monthly by the Director of Education/designee one on each shift to include weekends and holidays. Results will be presented at monthly QAPI meetings to ensure ongoing compliance. The Social Service Director/designee will continue weekly audits of orders to ensure that orders are accurate, and that Form 1896 is appropriately signed and dated and is in place in the EHR, and a copy is in the red binder at the nurses station in the event of a PCC or power outage. New hires will be educated on the centers policy during the Orientation process by the Director or Education or designee with written post quiz and attestations to ensure competency. Results of audits will be presented at the Monthly QAPI meeting to ensure ongoing compliance.
Removal Plan
- Education on code status, policy, and neglect policy initiated for current license staff. With post quiz and attestation.
- New hired licensed nurses will be educated on the advanced directive policy with post quiz and attestation. Ongoing.
- Resident's chart review completed.
- Audit of medical records of current residents to validate orders.
- Federal immediate report submitted with the notification to DCF and law enforcement.
- Code books reviewed for accuracy. Books located at each nursing station.
- The nurse involved in the incident was removed from the schedule pending investigation.
- Code blue drills to be performed to include weekends and holidays starting on until all nurses have attended a code blue drill with no deficiencies, alternating different scenarios of code status to increase staff understanding.
- Medical director notified of events and interventions.
- Crash carts audited.
- cards audited for validation.
- Ad hoc meeting with Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) and medical director.
- Quiz presented to licensed nurses to validate knowledge on code status and procedures competency as needed.
- Licensed nurse hires to be educated on current advanced directive policy attestation and competency and post quiz. Ongoing.
- New admissions/readmissions records to be reviewed daily by the nursing supervisor for accurate status. Ongoing.
- Reeducate SSD, UM, DCS, DQA on policy and obtaining form DH1896 (document) with physician and resident representative signature as soon as an order is received for.
- SSD/designee will do audit daily during clinical meeting of binders kept at the nurses' station to ensure that form 1896 is in place for those residents with an order for.
- Results and outcome of audits of binders for Form 1896 to be presented monthly.
- Audit results and outcome of drills to be presented at ad hoc meeting. Then monthly or until compliance to determine the effectiveness of the plan. Plan to be revised as necessary.
- Federal five day report submitted.
- Report to the board of nursing.
- Physician to be re-educated on signing and dating Form 1896.
Penalty
Resources
Below are regulatory guidelines relevant to this citation:
Incomplete OOH-DNR forms were found for two residents whose records reflected DNR status. One resident’s form lacked the physician’s license number, date, and signature at the bottom, while another resident’s form had Section B left blank, including the checkboxes identifying the signer’s authority and basis for the order. Staff stated the forms were completed and reviewed by multiple departments, but the ADM had not yet reviewed these two forms.
A resident with intact cognition was admitted for rehab after hospitalization, and her EMR showed DNR status in the banner, care plan, and physician order. However, her signed advance directive stated she wanted CPR and full resuscitative measures, and the form was not in the EMR. The DON acknowledged the mismatch and that the facility’s advance directive policy was not specific about the documentation process.
Failure to Offer Advance Directive Option: The facility did not provide the option to formulate an advance directive for five sampled residents. Records showed several residents were informed of the right to develop an advance directive, but documentation did not show the option was actually offered to the resident or RP. One resident had capacity to understand and make decisions, yet the social services assessment documented that no advance directive was in place, the opportunity was not offered, and no educational materials or state form were provided. Interviews with residents and SSD staff confirmed the omission.
Delayed Provider Signature on POLST: A resident with heart failure, dementia, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and heart disease signed a POLST, but the provider did not sign it until later after the issue was identified. The DON stated the admission coordinator completed the form with the resident or decision maker and then it went into the chart as an order, but could not explain why the POLST was not signed by the provider on admission.
A resident with multiple serious diagnoses, including COPD, CHF, CKD on dialysis, and an implanted cardiac defibrillator, had a signed Florida DNR and physician DNR order in the chart. After returning from HD, the resident became unresponsive in bed, staff called a code blue, and CPR was started based on an initial report that the resident was full code. Staff later found the DNR paperwork and told others the resident was DNR, but compressions continued until EMS arrived.
Failure to Provide Written Advance Directive Information and Accurate Code Status: The facility did not provide written information to residents or RP about the right to accept or refuse tx and to formulate an advance directive. Records for multiple residents showed DNR or Full Code orders, but documentation of written advance directive information was absent. One resident had a DNR order in the chart, yet an NP note listed the resident as Full Code without a new order or documentation of the change. Staff interviews showed reliance on hospital paperwork and uncertainty about who was responsible for discussing advance directives.
Incomplete OOH-DNR Forms for Two Residents
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that two residents had complete Out-of-Hospital Do Not Resuscitate (OOH-DNR) forms as part of their advance directive records. Resident #74 was admitted with diagnoses including sepsis, atherosclerotic heart disease, and muscle weakness, and the admission record, physician order summary, and care plan all reflected DNR status. However, the OOH-DNR form for this resident did not include the physician’s license number, did not include the date with the physician’s signature, and was not signed at the bottom by the physician. Resident #84 was admitted with diagnoses including acute kidney failure, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure, and the admission record and physician order summary also reflected DNR status. The OOH-DNR form for this resident had Section B left blank, including the checkmark areas identifying the legal basis for the order and the basis for the signer’s authority or knowledge of the patient’s wishes. During interviews, the DON, BOM, RN A, and ADM stated staff were responsible for completing and reviewing the forms, and the ADM stated she had not yet reviewed the OOH-DNRs for these residents. The facility policy stated residents’ choices regarding advance directives should be honored and that residents should have a complete advance directive with all known wishes clearly outlined.
Advance Directive and Code Status Not Matched
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that a resident’s advance directive and code status were accurately documented to reflect her chosen wishes. Resident 16 was admitted for rehabilitation after a hospitalization, had a BIMS score of 15 indicating intact cognition, and stated she hoped to regain strength and return home with her husband. Her EMR contained a banner indicating she did not want CPR, her baseline care plan listed her code status as DNR, and there was a physician’s order for DNR. However, review of the resident’s signed advance directive showed that she wanted CPR and full resuscitative measures. The EMR did not contain the advance directive form, and staff acknowledged that without the form scanned into the EMR they could not verify whether the code status matched the resident’s advance directive. The DON also acknowledged that the facility’s policy regarding advance directives was not specific about the process for obtaining and documenting residents’ advance directives.
Failure to Offer Advance Directive Option
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide the option to formulate an advance directive for five sampled residents: Residents 10, 158, 163, 169, and 213. The facility’s policy stated that residents would be given information about advance directives upon admission and, if no advance directive existed, would be provided an opportunity to complete one upon resident request. Survey review found that this opportunity was not provided or documented for the five residents reviewed. Resident 213’s record showed the resident was informed of the right to develop an advance directive, but the record did not show the facility provided the resident or responsible party the opportunity to formulate one. Resident 213 had a full LPS conservatorship status, was cognitively intact on the MDS, and had a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. Similar findings were identified for Resident 169, whose record showed full LPS conservatorship status, cognitive intactness on the MDS, and a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, but no documentation that the resident or responsible party was offered the opportunity to formulate an advance directive. Resident 158’s record showed the resident was informed of the right to develop an advance directive, but the resident refused to sign the acknowledgement and the record did not show the facility provided the resident or responsible party the opportunity to formulate one. Resident 158 stated during interview that the facility did not provide information or the option to form an advance directive. Resident 163’s record also showed the resident was informed of the right to develop an advance directive, but no documentation showed the resident or responsible party was offered the opportunity to formulate one; the resident stated the facility did not provide information or the option to form an advance directive. Resident 10’s record showed the resident had capacity to understand and make decisions, yet the social services assessment documented that an advance directive was not in place, the opportunity to complete one was not offered, and no educational materials, including the state form, were provided. The SSD and SSD-STP acknowledged that the residents were not offered the option to formulate advance directives.
Delayed Provider Signature on POLST
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that 1 of 1 resident's Provider Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) was completed timely. The resident had diagnoses including heart failure, dementia, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and heart disease, and the admission MDS identified the resident as moderately cognitively intact and requiring partial to moderate assistance with activities of daily living. The resident signed the POLST on 5/6/26, but the provider did not sign it until 7/30/26, after the issue was brought to the facility's attention. During interview, the DON stated the admission coordinator would complete the form with the resident or decision maker and then it would go into the chart as an order, but could not explain why the POLST had not been signed by the provider on admission. The facility's Advance Care Planning policy stated that on admission the resident and/or legal representative would be notified of the need for an order for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and that the POLST would become a medical order.
Failure to Honor Resident DNR During Code Event
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to act in accordance with a resident’s advance directive and did not honor the resident’s Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) status when the resident was found unresponsive and absent of life. Resident #6 had multiple diagnoses including COPD, type 2 diabetes mellitus, morbid obesity, hemiplegia and hemiparesis following cerebral infarction, generalized muscle weakness, dyspnea, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease with dependence on renal dialysis, and an implantable cardiac defibrillator. The resident had a Florida DNR order signed by the resident and an APRN, and the physician order set also listed the resident as DNR. On the day of the incident, the resident returned from hemodialysis and was described as awake, alert, and conversing with staff during transport back to the room. Multiple staff statements described that after the resident was lowered into bed, the resident became unresponsive. Staff then assessed the resident and asked about code status. One nurse stated the resident was full code, and a code blue was called. CPR was started, the AED was applied, and EMS was called. Several staff later stated that the resident’s DNR paperwork was in the chart or red book and that they informed others that the resident was DNR after CPR had already begun. Witness statements and interviews showed conflicting accounts about when the DNR was discovered and whether CPR should have been stopped. Some staff stated they were told to continue compressions until EMS arrived even after the DNR was identified. Other staff stated they checked the record, confirmed the resident was DNR, and communicated that information to the team. The DON later stated that once the DNR was discovered, staff should have stopped CPR, and the Medical Director stated there was a process for checking code status using the code book and computer. The facility policy stated that CPR would be provided unless the resident had a fully executed Florida DNR order, and that two licensed nurses were to verify the resident identification and DNR order in the medical record.
Failure to Provide Written Advance Directive Information and Maintain Accurate Code Status
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to inform residents and their representatives, in writing, of their right to accept or refuse medical or surgical treatment and to formulate an advance directive. Record review and resident interviews showed that multiple residents had code status orders documented in the chart, including DNR and Full Code orders, but there was no indication in the electronic medical record that written information about advance directives had been provided. Residents identified in the report included cognitively intact residents, residents with moderate cognitive impairment, and residents with severe cognitive impairment. For Resident #16, the record showed a DNR order dated 7/14/26, but a Nurse Practitioner progress note dated 7/15/26 listed the resident as Full Code without documentation of a change from DNR back to Full Code and without a new Full Code order. During interview, Resident #16 stated that advanced directives had not been discussed with her, that she had not received written information about her rights, and that she believed she was supposed to be DNR. She also stated she found out accidentally that she had been listed as Full Code when she saw paperwork sent to the doctor. Other residents reviewed included Resident #8, #47, #12, #9, #13, #75, #80, #71, #102, #103, #104, #105, #107, and #11. Their records showed code status orders such as DNR or Full Code, and the MDS assessments reflected varying cognitive status, including cognitively intact, moderately impaired, and severely cognitively impaired. Interviews with the Social Worker Assistant, Admission Coordinator, Social Worker, DON, NP, and Administrator showed that staff relied on hospital paperwork or the Golden Rod form to determine code status, that written information was not being provided to residents or responsible parties regarding advance directives, and that staff were not clear on who was responsible for addressing advance directives during admission.
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