A Pennsylvania nurse has been charged with neglect of care of a dependent person; simple assault; reckless endangerment; and strikes, shoves, kicks, or attempts to threaten a dependent person. The victim, a female resident recovering from a stroke, sustained a head injury near her eye. The victim’s husband, also a resident in the same room, allegedly witnessed the incident.
The couple’s son called the police after being notified by the facility’s nursing supervisor of his mother’s claims of being assaulted by a nurse at the facility. The nurse was immediately removed from the facility after the alleged incident, which occurred on January 19, 2021.
The son told the police that the nursing supervisor initially suggested that the incident be handled in-house. Per the criminal complaint, the nursing supervisor later filed a police report regarding the incident.
The criminal complaint further details that the female resident reported that the incident occurred with a verbal argument with the nurse. The female resident claims that her husband had returned to the nursing home from the hospital, and the nurse was putting away her husband belongings. The female resident advised the nurse she was placing everything in the wrong place and mixing her husband’s items with her items.
The criminal complaint states that the nurse yelled,” Ok, what are you going to do? I’m not going to be treated like a dog.” The female resident claims that the nurse became enraged and struck her head several times with a landline phone above her right eye. She also claims that the nurse pulled down her face mask and spat in her face and bent her left thumb and left index finger. Additionally, the nurse poured cups of soda over the female resident’s nightgown and pulled the landline from the wall before leaving the room. During the incident, the female resident’s spouse yelled at the nurse to stop.
The female resident was transported to a hospital for injuries above her right eye and a sprain to her left hand. The landline phone allegedly used in the assault was cracked on its sides and front. A nurse aide was inside the room during the incident and filed a report that the nurse was verbally aggressive toward the female resident.
The nurse failed to appear for a scheduled interview with the investigating detective. A preliminary hearing is scheduled May 5, 2021.
Issue:
Keeping residents safe and free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation should always be a top priority for administration and staff. Failure to prevent any type of abuse may be considered a breach of resident’s rights and deemed immediate jeopardy, provision of substandard quality of care, and a violation of state and federal regulations, with citations and sanctions applied. In addition, all owners, operators, employees, managers, agents, and contractors of a facility must file a report to both law enforcement and the state survey agency when there is reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred against a resident or person receiving care at the facility. If the crime involves serious bodily injury, including criminal sexual abuse to the resident, the facility must report the incident immediately, but no later than two hours after forming the suspicion. Under the Elder Justice Act, if a facility fails to report a reasonable suspicion of a crime, it may be subject to a civil monetary penalty of up to $300,000 and/or exclusion from participation in any Federal healthcare program. Chapter 7 of the Med-Net Corporate Compliance and Ethics Manual provides Policy Number RR 1.1 Freedom from Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation. You can access the related F-Tags in the CMS State Operations Manual Appendix PP at this link: Appendix PP – November 22, 2017 (cms.gov)
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures for preventing abuse, neglect, and exploitation to ensure they include requirements of F-Tag 600 Freedom from Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation; F607 Written Policies and Procedures that Prevent Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation, and Misappropriation; and F608 Reporting of Crimes to ensure compliance with the Elder Justice Act. Determine if improvements are needed, and update the policies and procedures as necessary.
- Ensure that all staff receive appropriate abuse identification and prevention training during new hire orientation and at least annually thereafter, including training on the Elder Justice Act as included in the CMS regulations. Provide education on the reporting process, that reporting is mandatory, and how to access the anonymous hotline. Document that that the trainings occurred and file the signed document in each employee’s education file.
- Review training records to ensure that all employees and other agents of the facility receive abuse prevention, identification, and reporting training during new employee orientation, at least annually thereafter, and anytime an issue arises.
