Failure to Respond to Allegation of Verbal Abuse
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to respond appropriately to an allegation of verbal abuse involving a resident with diagnoses including malignant neoplasm of endometrium, malignant neoplasm of cerebral meninges, and dementia. The resident was alert, oriented, and had a care plan addressing behavioral issues, including accusations toward staff. The resident reported to multiple staff members that she was being treated disrespectfully, with staff using profanity and being rude, particularly during the night shift. Despite these reports, the resident was reluctant to name the staff involved due to fear of retaliation. Several staff members, including CNAs and an LPN, confirmed that the resident had informed them of the alleged verbal abuse and that they had reported these concerns to nursing or administrative staff as per facility policy. However, interviews with the Administrator, DON, and ADON revealed that administrative staff were unaware of any such allegations regarding this resident. The facility's abuse policy required all allegations to be reported to the Administrator, investigated, and reported to the State Survey Agency, but there was no evidence that this process was followed for the resident's complaint. Further, a social worker case manager from the hospital reported that the resident had disclosed daily verbal abuse during her hospital stay and that this information was communicated to the facility and its hospital liaison. Despite this, there was no record of a self-reported incident (SRI) related to the allegation, and the facility did not initiate an investigation or report the incident as required by policy. The failure to respond appropriately to the resident's allegation of verbal abuse constituted non-compliance with regulatory requirements.