Failure to Timely Report and Act on Alleged Misappropriation of Resident Funds
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to implement its abuse, neglect, and misappropriation policy when an allegation of misappropriation of funds involving a cognitively intact resident was not immediately reported to the Administrator. The abuse policy required any staff who witnessed or became aware of suspected abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of patient property to report it immediately to a supervisor, who in turn was to immediately notify the Administrator or designee so that an investigation could be initiated within 24 hours and residents protected from further harm. The resident told the Social Worker that he had inadvertently sent $300 to a nurse aide via a money transfer application around Christmas, that the aide’s account was negative, and that she had promised to repay him after receiving her paycheck. The Social Worker doubted the truthfulness of the account and chose to wait to see if the funds would be returned instead of immediately reporting the allegation as required by policy. From the time the Social Worker was informed of the $300 transfer until several days later, the Administrator was not notified, and the nurse aide remained on the work schedule and had nurse aide assignments. The Administrator later confirmed that she was not informed of the situation until several days after the Social Worker first learned of it, and that the aide should have been removed from duty earlier to protect residents. The DON also stated that the aide should have immediately notified management when she became aware that the resident’s $300 had been transferred into her account. Additionally, when the Administrator attempted to submit the initial allegation report to the State Agency, she transposed letters in the State Agency’s email address, resulting in the report not being received, and she did not detect this failure until informed by the surveyor. As of a later survey date, the State Agency had not received the initial allegation report, and the facility’s corrective action plan inaccurately stated that the report had been sent on an earlier date.
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