Failure to Assess Residents With Changes in Condition
Summary
The facility failed to ensure assessments were performed for multiple residents who had changes in condition, including residents with altered mental status, respiratory symptoms, vomiting, diarrhea, decreased oral intake, abnormal vital signs, decreased urine output, and other acute changes. The report states that for 7 of 9 sampled residents reviewed for change of condition, the facility did not complete the expected assessments, and this resulted in actual harm to two residents who experienced delays in treatment. One resident with a history of stroke, anemia, hypertension, renal disease, hemiplegia, and seizure disorder developed nausea, dark tarry stool, weakness, and decreased responsiveness before transfer to the hospital. The record showed no additional nursing assessments before transfer, and the hospital documented sepsis, altered mental status, abdominal pain, prolonged QT interval, and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. The resident later deteriorated with hypotension, worsening lactic acidosis, and colonic ischemia, and died after the family declined surgery and chose comfort care. The record also showed no head-to-toe nursing assessments since a prior change of condition months earlier, and staff interviews described earlier complaints of headache, crying, poor intake, sleeping more, and staring spells that were reported but not documented as an assessment. Another resident with severe vascular dementia, cognitive communication deficit, macular degeneration, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, and depression had emesis, coughing during meals, lethargy, diminished lung sounds, and low oxygen saturation. The record showed no physical assessment or intervention documented with the initial vomiting episode, no evidence of reassessment when the resident became difficult to awaken with oxygen saturation of 87% on room air, and no evidence of a comfort care order until later even though the resident was documented as being on comfort measures before that order was obtained. The resident later expired. Similar failures were documented for other residents, including shortness of breath with low oxygen saturation, vomiting and diarrhea without assessment, decreased urine output with blood in the catheter output, and a new admission whose medications were delayed and whose elevated heart rate lacked documented follow-up assessment.
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