Valuable Wedding Ring Stolen from Resident in Oklahoma Nursing Home

Failure to respond and investigate a grievance from a resident or family member regarding the possible theft of a resident’s valuable possession may be considered abuse, neglect, misappropriation, or exploitation and result in the submission of a false claim

Compliance Perspective

Policies/Procedures: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Administrator will review the policies and procedures regarding the safekeeping of residents’ personal valuables.

Training: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Director of Nursing will ensure that staff are trained about the facility’s policies and procedures for safekeeping of residents’ valuable personal possessions. Staff will be trained to encourage residents to keep their valuable jewelry in a locked box to prevent theft or loss during times when a resident may be incapacitated, sleeping, or not wearing them. The facility staff should consider communicating with residents and their families through the Residents’ Council or in a notice about the importance of not keeping irreplaceable, valuable items at the nursing home.

Audit: The Compliance and Ethics Officer should personally conduct an audit to determine if all grievances regarding the loss of valuable jewelry and other personal possessions are being investigated and resolved.

The daughter of a 78-year-old nursing home resident believes her mother was drugged and her valuable wedding ring stolen. The daughter is a retired police detective and told television news media that her mother was a light sleeper but would not take sleeping medication. However, on the Saturday night after Thanksgiving, the resident was given Ambien for the first time and is reported to have slept through the night. When the resident awoke on Sunday morning and was eating her breakfast, she noticed that her wedding ring was gone, and she was very distressed.

The value of the ring is estimated at over $30,000, and the resident is reported to have been wearing that ring for 62 years.

The resident’s daughter believes that one of the nursing home’s staff drugged her mother and took the ring. According to the daughter, the nursing home has not been very responsive to her inquiries. She said that she asked for the names of the employees who worked in the area where her mother resided— specifically on the night in question. The nursing home gave her a list of all their employees. She has also requested that the facility provide her with the name of their insurance company and the surveillance video, but those have not been provided. She says that the facility’s administrator referred all questions to the parent company headquartered in Texas.

The daughter filed a police report, but she said getting the ring back is most important.