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 timeframe. On one occasion, a resident's representative reported to a nurse that the resident had overheard CNAs making inappropriate comments about her continence and care needs during lunch. The nurse notified the Administrator of the concern on the same day, and the Administrator spoke with both the nurse and the resident's representative. However, the Administrator initially determined that the incident was a customer service issue rather than potential abuse and did not report it to the State Agency at that time. It was not until the following day, after speaking directly with the resident who described the CNAs as having yelled at her and became visibly upset, that the Administrator considered the situation as possible abuse. At that point, the Administrator initiated an investigation and reported the incident to the State Agency. This sequence of events resulted in a delay in reporting the allegation of abuse, which was not made within the required two-hour timeframe as specified by facility policy and state regulations.