Failure to provide the level of staffing and supplies needed to ensure quality of care for each resident admitted into the facility may result in the submission of a false claim.
Compliance Perspective – Negligent Care
Policies/Procedures: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Director of Nursing will review policies and procedures that address adequate numbers of staff required to provide the level of care each resident admitted into the facility needs.
Training: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Director of Nursing will ensure that supervising staff are aware of the total hours of RNs, LPNs, and CNAs needed per shift and unit in order to meet the acuity level of the residents.
Audit: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Director of Nursing should personally conduct an audit to ensure that care plans are complete and implemented, resident acuity levels are assessed, adequate numbers of staff are on-duty, and necessary supplies are available.
Freedom from Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation
A South Carolina nursing home and its corporate owner are named in a lawsuit by the personal representative of a resident alleging that the “defendants breached their duty to residents to act in a manner consistent with proper operation of the nursing homes they control.”
According to the complaint, the resident was admitted into the nursing home in January 2016, because she was cognitively and physically impaired and was considered incompetent to handle her affairs.
The lawsuit alleges that the facility did not provide the care it promised to the resident due to budgetary constraints that limited staffing and supplies. The suit also alleges that the resident suffered falls, fractures, infections, and dehydration requiring hospitalization and medical treatment.
The failure by the defendants to provide sufficient staffing is alleged to have caused the provision of sub-standard quality of care.
A jury trial is sought along with damages, litigation costs, punitive damages, and “all other just relief.”
