Failure to Assess and Report Fracture After Resident Fall
Summary
The facility failed to provide a thorough assessment after a resident with Alzheimer’s disease, muscle weakness, unsteadiness on feet, repeated falls, and high fall risk sustained a fall on 10/3/25. After the fall, staff documented that the resident was found at the foot of the bed with the right hip in contact with the floor and was indicating pain to the hip, but the record shows no timely assessment of the right lower extremity, no clear documentation of the fall assessment at the time, and no documented notification of the resident’s injury until later entries were added. Staff interviews showed the RN who first responded did not document the fall because another RN said she would do it, and the agency RN stated she helped with orders and provider notification but did not assess the resident. The resident continued to show guarding of the right hip and pain, and an x-ray was obtained on 10/4/25. The x-ray report showed a right hip impacted subcapital fracture of the right femoral neck with varus deformity, but the nurse practitioner stated she was not aware of the fracture, and the director of nursing stated she did not know about the fracture until reviewing records later. The record also showed pain scores ranging from 4 to 8 during this period, but there was no documented right lower extremity assessment between the first fall and the second fall. On 10/5/25, the resident had another unwitnessed fall in the dining room and was observed lying on her right side with limited range of motion in both lower extremities and crying out when moved. She was sent to the hospital, where records noted recurrent falls, decreased right hip range of motion limited by pain, a shortened and externally rotated right lower extremity, and x-ray findings of a subcapital femoral neck fracture with varus angulation. The facility’s own fall protocol required assessment and documentation of vitals, injury, musculoskeletal function, range of motion, weight bearing, and pain, and its notification policy required changes in condition or injury to be shared and reported to the physician, but these actions were not completed as documented after the initial fall and fracture finding.
Penalty
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