F0686

J

Failure to Prevent and Manage Progressive Sacral and Buttock Pressure Injury

New Albany, Indiana Survey Completed on 03-20-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to prevent the development and deterioration of a severe pressure ulcer in a resident who was admitted without documented pressure injuries to the buttocks or sacrum, despite being identified as at increased risk for skin breakdown. On admission, the resident had diagnoses including a displaced intertrochanteric fracture of the left femur, difficulty walking, morbid obesity, and bilateral hip osteoarthritis. The admission nursing evaluation documented normal skin color and temperature, with excoriations noted on the chest and bilateral iliac crest/groin areas, and a surgical dressing on the left thigh, but no pressure injuries were documented. A Braden Scale completed at admission identified the resident as at increased risk for pressure sores, with limited cognition, chairfast status, limited mobility, and friction and shear as potential problems. The care plan initiated the day after admission identified potential for skin impairment related to decreased mobility and included general interventions such as incontinence care, treatments as ordered, observation of skin during care, turning and repositioning, use of a pressure-reducing mattress and wheelchair cushion, weekly skin checks, and a wheelchair cushion, but no new or revised interventions were added when the care plan was revised several days later.

Subsequent skin checks documented a stage 1 pressure injury to the medial buttocks that was considered present on admission, although the admission assessment had only described excoriation and did not stage a pressure injury. A skin check dated approximately nine days after admission described the buttocks as having a generalized stage 1 pressure ulcer/injury to the medial buttocks without undermining or tunneling, and a later skin check again documented a stage 1 pressure injury to the medial buttocks, still described as present on admission. The resident’s MDS indicated she was cognitively intact but totally dependent on staff for toileting, hygiene, showering, and transfers using a sit-to-stand device, and required substantial assistance for bed mobility and position changes. The DON later reported that the resident slipped from the bed on an early March date and that shearing was subsequently noticed, which was described as the resident’s skin tears. Despite the resident’s high risk status, dependence on staff for repositioning, and documented redness on the coccyx and buttocks, there is no indication in the record that the facility implemented additional or modified interventions beyond the original care plan to address the evolving skin issues.

A wound note dated in early March documented that the resident, in addition to her post-surgical left proximal and distal wounds, had full-thickness skin tears to the right and left buttocks and sacrum. A physician’s order for non-pressure wounds of the coccyx and bilateral buttocks directed cleansing with normal saline, application of calcium alginate, and dressing as needed. A nurse’s note the same day indicated the resident was seen via telehealth by the wound nurse with the assistant DON, and the plan was for twice-daily dressing changes using Dakin’s solution, calcium alginate, and abdominal gauze. The following day, a wound note documented selective debridement of the right buttock and surgical excisional debridement of the sacrum. A subsequent alert note described the buttock/sacrum wound as tunneling with foul odor, requiring flushing with Dakin’s and normal saline, and application of Santyl, calcium alginate, and border gauze. Shortly thereafter, the resident was sent to the hospital for lethargy, altered mental status, and elevated temperature, and the hospital documented a diagnosis of sepsis likely due to an infected sacral wound. The surveyors determined that the facility failed to prevent the development and progression of a stage 4 pressure ulcer on the sacrum and full-thickness skin tears on the bilateral buttocks, and failed to ensure appropriate services were provided to these wounds, resulting in deterioration to a stage 4 pressure injury requiring surgical debridement and hospitalization for sepsis within three weeks of admission.