Is the failure of a nursing home to enforce its policy and procedure prohibiting the use of cell phones in resident areas a significant factor in resident abuse, with the potential for subsequent submission of false claims? [F583 Personal Privacy/Confidentiality of Records; F600Free from Abuse and Neglect; F602 Free from Abuse/Exploitation; F684 Quality of Care; and F689 Free of Accident Hazards/Supervision]
Compliance Perspective – Privacy
Policies/Procedures: The Privacy Officer will review cell phone policies and procedures to ensure that they address the protection of resident privacy and prevention of resident exploitation.
Training: Staff must be trained on the facility’s policy prohibiting cell phone use, and that failure to comply may result in progressive discipline, up to and including termination of employment and reporting to appropriate authorities. Instruction to supervisors should include that it is their responsibility to oversee and enforce compliance.
Auditing: An audit will be conducted to determine if supervisors are enforcing cell phone prohibitions.
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An Illinois nursing home and four of its employees are named in a suit on behalf of a 76-year-old resident who had suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with dementia. The suit, filed by the resident’s daughter, is seeking $50,000 in punitive damages. It alleges employees violated the resident’s right to privacy and bullied and abused him when they published a live video webcast on Facebook after coercing him into exposing his genitals.
The suit claims that the four named employees entered the resident’s room “for the purpose of bullying and abusing” him. The defendants are also accused of violating the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act that prohibits the abuse, neglect and exploitation of a mentally disabled resident, along with protecting a resident’s right to privacy and protection of their private health information.
The suit alleges that the employees took advantage of the resident because he was “vulnerable, disabled and easily manipulated.”
Along with the visual exposure shown on the video, the voices of the employees can be heard taunting the resident to remove his clothing and expose himself. It is asserted that this abuse continued for some time after the live streaming of the video ended. Statements like this were heard, “(Name of resident), take off your pants,” one employee says.
The plaintiff’s attorney noted that the webcast was both humiliating and detrimental to the resident’s medical condition. He pointed out that not only did the defendants seem to take delight in their cruel treatment of the resident but having so many staff in the resident’s room raises a question about who was providing care for the facility’s other residents.
