Failure to Coordinate Dialysis Care Resulting in Missed Treatments and Hospitalization
Penalty
Summary
A deficiency occurred when a resident with end-stage renal disease, who was dependent on hemodialysis, was admitted to the facility without any dialysis services being set up or scheduled prior to admission. The resident had been receiving dialysis five times per week at the previous facility, but upon transfer, no arrangements were made to continue this essential treatment. The facility did not implement any alternative dialysis treatment while waiting for a new provider, and there was no documentation of dialysis orders or appointments in the resident's records. The care plan and progress notes failed to address the resident's ongoing need for dialysis or any interim measures to manage her condition. During the 12 days following admission, the resident did not receive any dialysis treatments. She began to exhibit symptoms including shortness of breath, sweating, weakness, and jaundiced eyes. Laboratory results revealed critical values, such as elevated potassium, BUN, and creatinine levels. Despite these symptoms and the absence of dialysis, there was no documented follow-up or escalation of care to address the missed treatments. The resident's family ultimately requested that she be sent to the hospital, where she was found to have critical lab values and required a five-day hospitalization. Interviews with facility staff revealed a lack of coordination and communication regarding the resident's dialysis needs. Staff members, including the DON, ADON, and Social Service Director, indicated that it is standard practice to ensure dialysis is arranged before admitting a resident who requires it, but in this case, the process was not followed. The transportation staff attempted to refer the resident to a dialysis center, but the referral did not go through, and there was no effective follow-up. The nephrologist and medical doctor both confirmed that missing dialysis treatments can cause serious harm and that the facility failed to coordinate care to prevent this outcome.
Removal Plan
- The Administrator and Assistant Director of Nursing (ADON) were in-serviced by the VP of clinical services on dialysis care related to coordination of care by not setting up dialysis treatments.
- All department heads on dialysis and procedure and no staff was allowed to work until they were in-serviced on dialysis.
- A 24-hour report sheet was made up to ensure that there were no dialysis residents that missed/needed set up for treatment.
- A quality assurance tool was implemented: On-going audit of the 24-hour report will be completed to ensure that no resident missed dialysis or needed dialysis set up and a Root cause analysis was completed for neglect related to coordination of care for all new residents and dialysis needs are addressed.