Failure to Ensure Agency Nurses Received Required Abuse and Neglect Training
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that nursing staff, specifically two agency licensed nurses, received required training on abuse, neglect, exploitation, and misappropriation of resident property. Facility policy mandates that all employees receive such training during orientation, through code of conduct training, and at least annually. However, review of personnel files and interviews revealed that one agency nurse, on her first day, could not specify the topics covered in her pre-employment online training, and the facility was unable to provide documentation verifying completion of the required training for either of the two agency nurses reviewed. Additionally, an incident occurred in which a licensed nurse discovered that 30 tablets of oxycodone for a resident were missing from the narcotic drawer, and one of the agency nurses was identified as the alleged perpetrator. The Director of Nursing stated that agency staff are expected to complete required trainings through their agencies but was unable to obtain or provide records confirming that the two agency nurses had completed training specific to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and misappropriation of resident property. The facility was therefore unable to verify compliance with its own policies and state regulations regarding staff development and personnel procedures.