A lawsuit has been filed against a South Carolina nursing home claiming a resident died after contracting COVID-19 while residing in the nursing home, alleging that the nursing home was negligent, careless, and reckless in the death of the resident. The lawsuit states that the resident passed away on May 1, 2020, shortly after contracting COVID-19 while in the care of the nursing home. The lawsuit also states that since the nursing home failed to institute proper infection control measures throughout the facility, it “lead to facility-wide illness and multiple resident deaths.”
There are claims against the nursing home that a staff member who exhibited symptoms of COVID-19, including a fever and having a family member test positive for COVID-19, was not allowed to go home after informing a supervisor. There are also claims that multiple staff members did not follow proper personal protective equipment (PPE) protocols or wear a mask when entering the room of the resident who was known to have COVID-19.
Issue
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the country, it is imperative that all staff follow infection prevention protocols. All staff members should adhere to the Core Principles of COVID-19 Infection Prevention principles. Supervisors, and others who have decision making capacity, must follow infection control protocols when assessing staff members and must understand that staff members exhibiting symptoms or reporting exposures should be prohibited from working to decrease the spread of infections.
Discussion
- Review policies and procedures to ensure implementation of the Core Principles of COVID-19 Infection Prevention and the effectiveness of the facility’s Infection Prevention and Control Plan.
- Train staff in the Core Principles of COVID-19 Infection Prevention. Document that the training occurred and file the signed training document in employee’s education file. The memorandum listing the Core Principles can be accessed at https://www.cms.gov/files/document/qso-20-39-nh.pdf.
- Periodically audit to ensure that the Core Principles of COVID-19 Infection Prevention are being followed by staff, residents, and visitors. Provide additional training when determined to be needed.
