Failure to Monitor Behaviors During Psychotropic Medication Dose Reduction Leads to Immediate Jeopardy
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure adequate and consistent monitoring for behaviors during a Gradual Dose Reduction (GDR) of a psychotropic medication for a resident with a history of behavioral disturbances. The resident, who had diagnoses including paranoid schizophrenia, vascular dementia, bipolar II disorder, and borderline personality disorder, underwent a dose reduction of Seroquel. Despite this change, there was no documented system in place to specify the timeframe or provide clear instructions to staff on how to monitor for behaviors during the GDR process. Documentation by Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) and nurses in the Electronic Medication Administration Record (EMAR) was incomplete and did not accurately reflect whether the resident exhibited behaviors or escalation of behaviors during this period. The care plan for the resident did not include parameters for monitoring the resident's condition following the medication adjustment. CNA mood and behavior documentation was frequently missing or incomplete, with many shifts left blank and unclear use of documentation codes. Nursing staff also failed to follow the specified instructions for behavior monitoring in the EMAR, often using check marks instead of the required 'Y' or 'N' responses, and there were no behavior monitoring notes documented in the progress or nursing notes during the critical period after the dose reduction. Fifteen days after the dose reduction, the resident with a known history of sexually inappropriate behaviors sexually abused another resident. The lack of proper monitoring and documentation during the GDR process was determined to have caused, or was likely to cause, serious injury, harm, impairment, or death to residents. This resulted in the citation of Immediate Jeopardy and substandard quality of care related to freedom from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.