Failure to Investigate Resident’s Verbal Abuse Allegation Reported by Email
Penalty
Summary
Facility staff failed to investigate an allegation of verbal abuse after a resident reported that two Geriatric Nursing Assistants (GNAs) spoke about the resident as if they were not present while providing care. During an interview, the resident stated they had emailed Administrator #1 and DON #2 about this incident. Review of documentation showed the resident sent an email to both Administrator #1 and DON #2 reporting that, during care the previous night, GNA #16 and GNA #17 were making comments about the resident. Administrator #1 acknowledged receiving the email but stated she had been out sick and the DON was at a hearing, and that the email was missed and the resident’s concerns were not addressed. In a separate interview, the DON stated the resident typically emailed or called when they needed to be changed and that she was not aware the resident had an issue with the GNAs because the email had been missed. This failure to review and act on the resident’s email reporting staff comments during care resulted in the facility not responding appropriately to an alleged incident of verbal abuse, and no investigation of the allegation was initiated.
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