Failure to Administer Timely Pain Medication for Severe Pain
Penalty
Summary
A resident with a history of right femur fracture and hypertension was admitted to the facility and assessed as having severe cognitive impairment and requiring moderate assistance with activities of daily living. The resident's care plan included interventions for pain management, specifying the administration of medications as ordered. Physician orders were in place for acetaminophen for mild pain and hydrocodone-acetaminophen for severe pain, based on a numeric pain scale. On the day in question, the resident was assessed with a pain level of 7 out of 10, which qualified as severe pain according to the physician's orders. However, no pain medication was administered at that time. The nurse on duty reported that she attempted to obtain pain medication from the emergency kit but was unable to do so because the physician had not yet signed the necessary authorization. As a result, the resident did not receive any pain medication until seven hours after the initial pain assessment. The facility's policy required staff to implement the medication regimen as ordered, but this was not followed in this instance.