Failure to Timely Report Alleged Abuse to State Agency
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to report an allegation of abuse to the state agency within the required two-hour timeframe. According to facility policy, all alleged violations involving abuse, neglect, exploitation, or mistreatment must be reported immediately, but not later than two hours after the allegation is made. In this incident, a certified medication aide (CMA) witnessed one resident hit another resident in the face without provocation. The local police were notified and arrived at the facility shortly after the incident. However, the state agency was not notified until several hours later, as indicated by a fax transmittal page showing the report was sent at 4:05 p.m., despite the police being notified at 7:25 a.m. The resident who was struck had diagnoses including vascular dementia with behavioral disturbances, schizoaffective disorder bipolar type, mood affective disorder, and moderate intellectual disabilities, and was assessed as moderately impaired for daily decision making. The delay in reporting was acknowledged by the Director of Nursing (DON), who stated that the incident occurred over the weekend and the report was submitted by the weekend charge nurse. The DON confirmed that the report was not made within the required timeframe and that the administrator was unable to be contacted at the time.