Failure to Timely Report Allegations of Abuse to Authorities
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to timely report allegations of abuse involving two residents to the abuse coordinator and the State Agency. In the first incident, a resident informed a family member that a staff member had thrown a washcloth or towel at them. The family member reported this to the charge nurse, but the charge nurse did not promptly notify the abuse coordinator. As a result, the facility did not notify the State Agency or initiate an investigation until approximately 64 hours after the allegation was first reported to staff. In the second incident, a resident with a history of paranoid schizophrenia, diabetes, and acute kidney failure, and who had recently been hospitalized for aggressive behavior, was involved in an altercation with a staff member. The resident alleged that a staff member threw water at them during an argument about medication administration. Multiple staff interviews confirmed that the resident was agitated and that water was involved, but the incident was not reported to the abuse coordinator or investigated at the time. The administrator and staff were unaware of the abuse allegation until it was brought to their attention by the surveyor several days later. Facility policy requires that all allegations of abuse be immediately reported, thoroughly investigated, and documented by the administrator, and that appropriate authorities be notified. In both cases, staff members who were aware of the allegations did not follow these procedures, resulting in delayed reporting and investigation of the alleged abuse.