Failure to Protect Resident from Verbal Abuse by Staff
Penalty
Summary
A resident with diagnoses including dementia, depression, anxiety, dysphagia, difficulty walking, and generalized muscle weakness required complete assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) and was incontinent of bowel and bladder. During the 11 P.M. to 7 A.M. shift, a nursing assistant (NA) was witnessed by another NA yelling and swearing at the resident while providing incontinent care. The NA directed derogatory and profane language at the resident, specifically calling the resident 'f***ing nasty' due to incontinence of stool. The incident was reported by the witnessing NA to the Director of Human Resources, and the resident was noted to have reported that a staff member was very mean to them. Facility documentation, including a reportable event form and nurse's notes, confirmed the occurrence of verbal abuse. Interviews with facility leadership and staff corroborated that the NA engaged in verbally abusive behavior towards the resident during care. The facility's abuse prevention policy states that residents have the right to be free from all forms of abuse, including verbal abuse, and the incident constituted a failure to protect the resident from such abuse as required by policy.