Ohio Grand Jury Indicts 7 Nurses on 34 Charges Including Involuntary Manslaughter and Patient Neglect
Providing substandard quality of care by failing to administer appropriate treatment to prevent and heal residents’ wounds and falsifying residents’ records to reflect provision of care that was not actually given may result in fraud and the submission of false claims
Compliance Perspective – Quality of Care
Policies/Procedures: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Director of Nursing will review policies and procedures involving quality of care and appropriate documentation.
Training: The Compliance and Ethics Officer, as well as every department head, will ensure that staff are trained to provide care as ordered, respond in a timely manner to resident needs, and report their concerns about the presence of substandard quality of care.
Audit: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Director of Nursing should conduct an audit of residents with wounds/pressure ulcers to determine the level of care provided, the accuracy of documentation, and timeliness of response to concerns. Additionally, they should identify the presence of any falsified records indicating that care was provided when residents were not available.
An Ohio grand jury has indicted seven nurses who worked in 2017 at the same nursing home on 34 charges that include involuntary manslaughter and patient neglect. The nurses are accused of abusing two residents—one who is alleged to have died as a result of their neglect.
The resident who died is alleged to have developed wounds with gangrenous and necrotic tissue in February 2017 . The facility is alleged to have delayed hospitalizing the resident who died on March 5, 2017, from septic shock related to his wounds.
Three of the defendants are accused of failing to take medically appropriate steps that could have saved his life.
The facility officials disagree that the treatment provided to the resident who died caused his death. A spokesperson for the facility made this statement: “There are a lot of circumstances around that gentlemen and his untimely passing. We are confident that once those things come out, it will be clear that the care he was provided at the facility did not contribute to his death.”
The other resident named in the case was allegedly caused additional physical harm due to inadequate care as a result of nurses falsifying records and forging signatures in her chart. An investigation showed that the resident’s record indicated she had received treatment when she had not been present in the facility.
Four employees accused of falsifying the resident’s records were fired immediately, and two others were suspended pending the outcome of the allegations.
