Failure to Accurately Document Resident’s Allegation of Sexual Abuse and Related Behaviors
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to maintain an accurate and complete medical record for a resident with severe cognitive impairment and multiple medical diagnoses, including stroke, dementia, depression, lung disease, and hypertension. The resident required extensive assistance of two staff for bed mobility, transfers, and ambulation, and had documented severe depression and a history of altered mood/behaviors with delusional thinking and yelling out. Despite this, the medical record contained no documentation of events related to an allegation of staff-to-resident sexual abuse that occurred on a specific date. On the morning of the alleged incident, a CNA reported to an LPN that the resident was combative when being assisted off a bedpan. When the LPN assessed the resident, the resident was very agitated and reported that a man tried to put his “thing” in her mouth, gesturing toward her own and the nurse’s private areas. The LPN acknowledged that not everything the resident said made sense but recognized the need to report the concern and informed the social worker designee. The LPN later entered a note in the medical record describing the resident as having increased delusions and false beliefs, with discomfort to the left wrist after becoming combative, and that the son stated the resident behaves this way with a UTI. However, the LPN did not document the resident’s specific statements, gestures, or emotional status from that assessment. The social worker designee reported being notified of the allegation that morning and, along with the human resources director, interviewed the resident, who was upset and yelling about a man trying to put his “thing” in her mouth, and identified a man by name and clothing description that matched the CNA. The social worker designee also noted the resident complained of right wrist pain and stated she had multiple follow-up contacts with the resident to assess emotional and cognitive status and to check in. Despite these interactions, the social worker designee confirmed that she did not document the resident’s behaviors, allegations, or any follow-up visits or psychosocial assessments in the medical record. The ADON verified that there was no documentation in the medical record of the incident, the nature of the delusions, or what led to the resident becoming combative, and that social services had made no entries for the resident during the period in question, resulting in an incomplete and inaccurate medical record related to the abuse allegation.
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