Failure to Investigate Alleged Abuse by Family Member
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to investigate an alleged violation of abuse involving a resident and the resident's family member. The Office of Healthcare Quality received a self-reported incident from the facility's Assistant Director of Nursing regarding an allegation that a resident's son yelled at the resident and possibly grabbed the resident's face during a visit. Progress notes in the resident's medical record documented the incident and the resident's responses to questions about feeling safe and whether the son had grabbed their face. Despite the self-report and documentation in the medical record, the facility was unable to produce an investigation file related to the alleged abuse when requested by the surveyor. The facility's policy requires the collection, retention, and safeguarding of all information and evidentiary material pertinent to investigations of alleged abuse or neglect. However, only the initial and final self-reports were located in the administrator's email, and no investigation file was provided to the surveyor.