Pennsylvania Nursing Home Sued Over Nude Photos of Resident Taken by Employee
The family of a resident in a Pennsylvania nursing home has filed a lawsuit over a nude photograph taken while the resident, who has dementia, was seated in the shower chair over excrement on the floor. The photograph had been posted on Snapchat with a graphic that read, “Winter Fails.” It was later shared on Facebook Messenger with at least two other employees at the facility.
After the county’s Agency on Aging received an anonymous tip about the photo, they started an investigation and notified the nursing home. When contacted, the agency would not comment about the investigation.
The suit alleges that the nursing home misled the investigators by indicating that the photo did not show the resident, but rather showed only excrement on the floor of the shower.
The incident occurred on Dec. 31, 2018, but the nursing home did not notify the resident’s family until Jan. 3. The resident has since been relocated to another facility.
The nursing home issued this statement, “We are sickened by the actions of this employee and do not tolerate this behavior in our senior living communities.”
Coincidentally, police in another county recently charged another nurse with “taking and distributing ‘explicit and private’ photos of at least 17 elderly patients over the course of a year.” According to the criminal complaint, the nurse was charged with 30 crimes, including invasion of privacy and abuse of care. That nurse was fired.
Compliance Perspective
Failure to prevent an employee from taking explicit and private photographs of residents may be considered an infringement of residents’ right to personal privacy; abuse, neglect, and exploitation; and provision of sub-standard quality of care in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures to ensure that they clearly prohibit and detail the penalty for taking any photographs of residents’ much less publishing them on social media outlets.
- Train staff on requirements of policies and procedures prohibiting the taking photographs of residents, and the responsibility of staff members to report any incidents involving taking pictures of residents to their supervisor or via the Hotline.
- Periodically audit by interviewing residents to determine if staff members may have taken their picture or recorded their voice or actions.
