Failure to Include Residents in Care Conferences
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that two residents were given the opportunity to attend and participate in their care conferences, which are intended to individualize the resident’s plan of care. For one resident, the medical record showed a social work note stating the son was notified of the upcoming care conference and that the resident was not notified because of a documented significant mental illness. However, the resident later stated they were not sure what a care conference was and could not recall being invited or participating, and there was no documentation showing recent cognitive, behavioral, or psychiatric symptoms that would have prevented offering the resident the opportunity to participate. The resident’s record also showed a BIMS score of 10/15 and a Resident Preferences Evaluation indicating meaningful and appropriate feedback about daily life preferences. For the second resident, the resident stated they were concerned they were supposed to participate in a care conference but had not been included, and they produced a paper invitation showing they were invited. The resident reported their daughter had spoken with the facility about their care, but no one came to bring them to the conference. The resident’s record showed diagnoses of COPD, anxiety disorder, and depression, and the most recent MDS documented a BIMS score of 13, indicating intact cognition. Social work stated they went to the resident’s room to bring them to the scheduled conference, but the resident was wet and needed to be changed first; social work said they offered to wait or get staff assistance, but the resident asked for the conference to continue without them and said their daughter would handle it. The record did not contain documentation that the second resident declined to attend the care conference, and a care conference summary stated the daughter attended by telephone and the patient was in attendance, which conflicted with staff interviews and video review. The Unit Manager stated they were present during the conference and the resident did not attend, and video footage of the room entryway showed the resident was not present during the meeting. When asked for documentation of the resident declining to attend, the DON stated a late progress note was being added to the file. The facility policy stated residents have the right to be informed of and participate in care planning, and that the resident’s choice regarding who is included in the care conference process will be honored.
Penalty
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