Failure to Investigate and Document Alleged Verbal Abuse Incident
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to complete an investigation and five-day follow-up for an alleged incident of verbal abuse involving a resident. Record review showed that an incident report was filed after a resident's daughter reported hearing a staff member being argumentative with the resident during a phone call. There was no documentation of an investigation or a five-day follow-up attached to the incident report. Interviews with the DON and the Regional President of Clinical Services confirmed that the required follow-up and investigation documentation were not available. Review of the facility's Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation policy indicated that complete and thorough documentation of investigations is required, but this was not done in this case.