Failure to Implement Dementia and Grief Care Interventions
Penalty
Summary
A resident with diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease, adjustment disorder with anxiety, and depression repeatedly requested to call a deceased family member. On multiple occasions, an LPN responded by directly telling the resident that the family member had died, which resulted in the resident becoming visibly upset, exhibiting behaviors such as yelling, crying, wandering, and exit seeking. The LPN confirmed that these reminders of the family member's death consistently led to the resident's distress, and staff documentation showed that this approach was used at least seven times, each time resulting in negative behavioral responses. Review of the resident's care plan revealed interventions for both grief and dementia, including assisting with grief, encouraging expression of feelings, observing for factors delaying the grief process, and engaging the resident in calming conversations. However, during the observed interaction, these care plan interventions were not implemented. Instead, the staff's approach did not align with the documented strategies for supporting the resident's emotional and psychological needs related to dementia and grief.