Failure to Recognize Changes in Condition and Provide Timely Treatment
Summary
The facility failed to provide care according to orders, resident preferences, and goals by not recognizing changes in condition and not ensuring timely assessment and treatment for multiple residents. For one resident with cognitive intactness and a history of falls, staff found him on the floor after a self-transfer from the toilet to the wheelchair. Although a fall assessment was completed and no injury was initially suspected, staff later reported that he was not the same after the fall, complained of significant pain, would not get out of bed, and said he thought he broke his leg or hip. Nursing staff also reported swelling and guarded movement, but the hip x-ray was not ordered until several days later, and the resident was ultimately found in the hospital to have an obvious right femur deformity with shortened, externally rotated leg and fractures requiring hospitalization. Another resident with pyoderma gangrenosum, venous insufficiency, thrombocytosis, hemiplegia, and major depressive disorder had worsening lower-extremity wounds, swelling, and pain. Nursing staff reported concern that the resident needed a vascular specialist because of the wounds and swelling, and one nurse stated the resident had previously required stents in the groin after severe leg wounds. The unit manager confirmed she was responsible for scheduling outpatient appointments but did not arrange the vascular specialist visit, and the resident had not been seen by the wound clinic. The resident reported the first wound opened weeks earlier and that he repeatedly asked staff to set up the appointment, while the record showed wounds that increased in size and pain that worsened over time. A resident with diabetes and a right foot ulcer experienced a prolonged decline in the wound with pain, odor, drainage, and increasing size, but provider documentation did not consistently address the wound changes. Nursing notes documented a deteriorating diabetic foot ulcer with eschar, slough, moderate exudate, foul odor, and pain during dressing changes, yet provider progress notes repeatedly focused on other issues and did not address the worsening ulcer or the resident’s pain. The wound ultimately became infected, failed to improve with facility wound care, and required hospitalization and toe amputation. For another resident with vascular dementia and repeated falls, the record showed a fall from bed with immediate pain, swelling, and deformity of the right lower leg, but the nurse did not assess the resident when found asleep after the fall. The hospital record later documented fractures of the distal femur and proximal fibula, severe pain, deformity, bruising, hypotension, and anemia requiring transfusion.
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