Failure to Timely Report Alleged Sexual Abuse to State Agency
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to follow its policies and procedures for reporting a reasonable suspicion of a crime and for reporting all alleged sexual abuse violations to the State Agency. A family member informed an LPN that a resident, who had moderate cognitive impairment and a history of psychiatric diagnoses including Alzheimer's disease and psychosis, expressed that something sexually had happened to her. The LPN, after speaking with the resident and a CNA, did not report the allegation because the resident denied that anything had happened and the family member suggested it might have been a dream. There was no documentation of the allegation in the resident's progress notes on the date it was reported to staff. The facility did not notify the Administrator or the State Agency of the allegation until it was brought to the Administrator's attention through a grievance more than two weeks later. The facility's policy required immediate reporting of all abuse allegations to the designated Abuse Coordinator and the State Agency, but this process was not followed. The delay in reporting and lack of documentation resulted in a failure to implement required abuse reporting procedures for the resident involved.