83-Year-Old Massachusetts Nursing Home Resident Beats Roommate
to Death with Walker
Police arrested an 83-year-old resident in a Massachusetts nursing home October 7, after receiving a call reporting a resident-to-resident incident between roommates in the facility that resulted in the beating and death of one resident.
Further investigation into the incident revealed in a court hearing indicated that the resident who committed the assault may have been suffering from PTSD flashbacks as a result of his military service in the Vietnam war and a traumatic brain injury from a fall in 2018. A doctor also testified that the man has been diagnosed with dementia.
Prosecutors also reported that a nurse walked into the residents’ room and witnessed the assault but said the nurse ran out of the room when the accused swung the walker in their direction.
The family of the accused resident described him as a “nice old guy” who suffered from PTSD, a brain injury, and dementia. They also felt that the facility had not been giving him his medications and was not paying attention to recent changes in his behavior.
The nursing home issued this statement in response to the incident:
“[Our] heart goes out to the families of those involved in last night’s incident. Our center is making additional support services available to our staff and residents. Our Center and staff are working with the local and state police departments in their investigation. Based on our initial internal investigation, we believe our staff acted quickly and appropriately in the matter. We are unable to comment further or provide additional details.”
The families of other residents in the nursing home expressed concern because they heard about the incident indirectly and felt the nursing home administration should have made them aware of the incident directly.
Compliance Perspective
Failure by facility staff to implement measures to prevent residents who may be suffering from traumatic effects of PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and/or dementia from becoming aggressive against other residents might be considered provision of substandard quality of care, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding Phase 3 of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) conditions of participation requiring nursing homes to implement Trauma-Informed Care (F699) by November 28, 2019.
- Train staff on providing Trauma-Informed Care and the importance of ongoing assessments of residents regarding potential for aggression toward others that may be triggered by prior trauma events.
- Periodically audit the facility’s assessments of residents who have experienced trauma events to determine if appropriate measures have been incorporated into their care plans to prevent re-traumatization and to prevent resident-to-resident aggression incidents.
