Failure to Prevent Resident-to-Resident Physical Altercation
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to protect a resident from abuse in the form of a resident-to-resident altercation. On the date of the incident, one resident was seated near the nurses’ station while using the phone, and another resident, who routinely self-propelled her wheelchair around the nurses’ station in the evenings, attempted to pass by. As the second resident tried to pass, the seated resident swung his arm back and struck her twice in the upper back. This event was witnessed by a restorative aide and a registered nurse, and was later documented in nursing progress notes and a facility-reported incident. The resident who initiated the altercation had multiple medical diagnoses, including cerebrovascular accident, hemiplegia, aphasia, adjustment disorder with depressed mood, a history of falls, and diabetes. His most recent MDS prior to the incident showed a BIMS score of 9/15, indicating moderate cognitive impairment, and documented that he was usually able to make himself understood and to understand others. His care plan identified mood and behavior issues, including verbal aggression and a tendency to not want to wear clothes, and directed staff to anticipate and meet his needs, assist with coping and interacting, provide positive interaction, discuss inappropriate behavior when reasonable, and intervene as necessary to protect the rights and safety of others by approaching calmly, redirecting, and removing him from situations as needed. The resident who was struck had diagnoses including non-Alzheimer’s dementia, cognitive communication deficit, and adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, with a BIMS score of 6/15 indicating severe cognitive impairment. She was sometimes able to make herself understood and to understand others, and used a wheelchair as her primary mode of transport. Her care plan addressed impaired cognitive function and directed staff to ask yes/no questions, cue, reorient, supervise as needed, keep her routine consistent, and provide consistent caregivers. On the day of the incident, she was following her usual routine of self-propelling around the nurses’ station when she was hit. Staff interviews described that the striking resident could become irritable when redirected and that he hit the other resident before staff could intervene, then stood up and subsequently hit and pinched the CNA who attempted to stop him. The facility’s abuse prevention policy states that residents have the right to be free from abuse by anyone, including other residents, and that the facility will protect residents from abuse, neglect, exploitation, or misappropriation of property by anyone.
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