Failure to Protect Residents During Active Abuse Investigation
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to protect residents during an active investigation of an alleged staff-to-resident verbal abuse incident involving an LPN. According to the facility's Abuse Prohibition Policies and Procedures, the safety of residents should be immediately secured by the first employee aware of the alleged abuse. Despite this policy, after the facility was notified of the allegation by the State Agency, the LPN accused of verbal abuse was allowed to remain on the work schedule and was observed working in the facility while the investigation was still ongoing. The Director of Nursing confirmed that the investigation was still active at the time the LPN was present in the building. The Administrator stated uncertainty about whether the same process for investigating allegations of abuse applied when the allegation was reported by a survey team rather than a resident, employee, or family member. The Administrator acknowledged that, under normal circumstances, the accused employee would be suspended pending the outcome of the investigation and not permitted to return to work until the investigation was complete. However, in this instance, the LPN was not immediately suspended, and residents were not protected according to facility policy during the investigation.