Failure to Provide and Document Medically Related Social Services After Alleged Abuse
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to provide and document medically related social services for a resident who experienced a significant psychosocial event related to an allegation of staff-to-resident sexual abuse. The resident, admitted with multiple diagnoses including stroke, depression, dementia, and severe cognitive impairment, required extensive assistance with mobility and had a care plan for mood and behavioral alterations, including delusional thinking and yelling out. Despite this, there was no documentation in the medical record of the alleged sexual abuse incident, no social services notes, and no psychosocial assessments entered between 03/10/26 and 03/19/26. The quarterly MDS showed severe depression with no documented change since the prior assessment, and the behavior and mood assessments reflected no behaviors since the prior annual assessment, despite the reported allegation. During an interview, the resident became guarded and defensive when asked about the alleged abuse, reported being told by the Administrator and police officers that she was safe and that the male staff member would no longer care for her, and refused to elaborate further. The social worker designee reported being informed of the allegation by an LPN, interviewing the resident when she was upset and yelling about a man trying to put his “thing” in her mouth, and confirming the description of the alleged perpetrator matched a CNA on duty. The social worker designee stated she met with the resident several times after the alleged incident to follow up on her emotional and cognitive status and to check in with her, but acknowledged she did not document the resident’s behaviors or allegations on the date of the incident, nor any follow-up visits or updated psychosocial assessments. This lack of documentation and failure to accurately record psychosocial needs and interactions conflicted with the written job responsibilities for the social worker designee.
