Failure to Protect Resident from Abuse During Medication Administration
Penalty
Summary
A facility failed to protect a resident from abuse when a staff member administered medications to a resident who had refused them. According to the facility-reported incident, a staff member was alleged to have shoved incorrect medications into the resident's mouth despite the resident's verbal refusal. Progress notes indicated that the resident inadvertently received losartan and gabapentin, which were not prescribed to them. A witness statement from another staff member confirmed that the resident was yelling and questioning the medications being given, explicitly refusing them. The staff member proceeded to put a spoon in the resident's mouth and administered the medications. The witness then informed the staff member that the medications given were not prescribed for the resident, confirming a medication administration error. The Director of Nursing was interviewed and questioned the classification of the incident as abuse, but the surveyor clarified that administering medication after a resident's refusal constitutes abuse.