Finding Description
Based on observation, record review and interview, the facility failed to ensure staff followed care planned intervention requiring two staff members to perform mechanical lift transfers to promote resident safety and prevent fall with injury for 1 (Resident #15) of 8 (Residents #3, #6, #10, #15, #20, #26, #33 and #46) sampled residents who required the mechanical lift for transfer. This failed practice resulted in actual harm for Resident #15, who fell and sustained a fracture, and had the potential to cause more than minimal harm for 13 residents who required transfers with a mechanical lift. The facility failed to ensure that chemicals were kept out of reach for 1 (Resident #49) sampled resident.
The findings are:
1. The Significant Change in Condition Minimum Data Set (MDS) with an Assessment Reference Date of 06/05/2024 indicated Resident #15 had diagnoses of heart failure, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, and other fracture, and that the resident scored 15 (13-15 indicates cognitively intact) on the Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS), was dependent for transfers, and had one fall with major injury.
a. The Care Plan with a revision date of 04/30/2024 indicated, .Problem: (Resident #15) has an ADL (Activities of Daily Living) self-care performance deficit .Approaches/Tasks .TRANSFER: (Resident) is dependent on total assist via Mechanical Lift with (2) staff assist for transfers with full blue sling .
b. The Care Plan with a revision date of 06/03/2024 indicated, .Problem: (Resident #15) is at risk for falls r/t (related to) bilateral lower extremity weakness & daily use of psychotropic drugs. 6/1/24- fall with injury .Goal: Will be free of falls through the review date .
c. An Incident Note dated 06/01/2024 at 6:33 PM by Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) #11 indicated, .Nature and Description of Incident: CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) was transferring resident back to bed using lift. While resident was in lift resident began to slowly slip out of the lift pad from the bottom. Resident was assisted to the ground by CNA to prevent hard fall. Resident states no injury and did not hit head. There is a scratch on her lower back from where she made contact with the leg of the lift .Description of Injuries: Scratch noted to lower back .Immediate Action Take: CNA was reeducated on how to position lift pad and resident while using lift and lift use safety .
d. An Order Administration Note dated 06/03/2024 at 1:05 AM indicated, .Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen Oral Tablet 5-325 MG (milligram) Give 1 tablet by mouth one time only for acute pain post fall 1 Day acute pain to sacral region post fall on 06/01. Pain reports 8/10 .
e. A Nurses Note dated 06/03/2024 at 1:16 AM indicated, .Resident requested a Norco this shift r/t (related to) acute pain scale of 8/10 to lumbar/sacral region post fall on 06/01/24. Resident has an active order for Norco 7.5/325 mg tablets PRN [when needed], but none available in cart r/t (related to) expiration since Resident had not taken one since January 2024. Norco 7.5/325 mg is not available in facility e-kit, so this nurse contacted on-call provider via Access Medical for further instruction. This nurse spoke with (named provider) APRN (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse) and received orders for the following: STAT x-ray of the lumbar/sacral region and 1 x dose of Norco 5/325 mg to be administered now; call back if dose ineffective. Norco 5/325 mg was administered per orders from facility e-kit, and paperwork faxed to (Named pharmacy) pharmacy as indicated. Provider reports that he will fax to pharmacy a script to provide coverage for used dose from e-kit. This nurse attempted to input order for x-ray to (Named Radiology Company) but (named Radiology Company) site shows resident's chart as inactive and would not allow order to be processed. This nurse contacted (Named Radiology Company) and spoke with (Named radiology company employee) at 11:56 PM, who input the order manually from her end for the STAT (medical abbreviation for urgent or rush) x-ray. Resident notified of new orders. This nurse did not place a call to resident's RP (Responsible Party) at this time r/t (related to) the non-emergent nature of the clinical situation. Report left for oncoming shifts. Plan of care continues .
f. A Nurses Note dated 06/03/2024 at 3:31 AM indicated, .(Named Radiology Company) technician presented to facility, obtained x-rays, and exited facility. Results pending at this time .
g. A Nurses Note dated 06/03/2024 at 3:36 AM indicated, .results returned with the following impression noted: Suspected lower sacral nondisplaced fracture is noted denoted by cortical step deformity seen along its anterior surface. Results reported via facility secure messaging system to facility APRN, (Named APRN); response pending. Resident is resting well at this time with no complaints of pain. (Named) Director of Nursing (DON) notified via telephone correspondence. Resident notified of clinical findings. This nurse attempted to contact resident's (Responsible Party), but was unsuccessful; not able to leave a voicemail. Report left for oncoming shifts. Plan of care continues .
h. A form titled, Radiology Results Report documented, .Examination Date: 06/03/2024 .Procedure: Lumbo-sacral spine (2-3 V (View)) AP (Anterior Posterior) Lat (Lateral), Spot/Report .Impression: Suspected lower sacral nondisplaced fracture is noted denoted by cortical step deformity seen along its anterior surface .
i. A Progress Note signed by the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse [APRN], dated 06/04/2024 at 10:49 AM, indicated, .This encounter was performed using interactive video and audio communications. This visit is medically indicated to evaluate Resident for sacral pain. Resident states experiencing pain in lower back, sacrum area following a fall. Pain is becoming worse . Assessment/Plan: 1. Sacral back pain: x-ray to lumbar/sacrum. Hydrocodone 5/325 mg x 1 dose now. rx (Prescription) sent to pharmacy .
j. A Progress Note signed by the APRN dated 06/05/2024 at 7:01 PM indicated, This visit was conducted via telemedicine with audio and visual. This visit is medically necessary to review x-ray and pain. Resident with non-displaced fracture of sacral area complaining of pain to area at this time .Assessment/Plan: 1. Pain in pelvis: continue Hydrocodone. Hydrocodone 5 mg-acetaminophen 325 mg table - To be submitted on or around 6/6/24 - Take 1 tablet (s) every 6 hours by oral route for 14 days .2. Fracture of sacrum - avoid constipation - repeat x-ray in two weeks .
k. On 06/24/2024 at 1:43 PM, Resident #15 was sitting in a wheelchair in the dining room. Resident #15 was asked if experienced a fall recently? Resident #15 stated, I fell about a month ago. I was dropped out of the sling, and I broke my tail bone. He was working the lift by himself.
l. On 06/25/2024 at 4:10 PM, Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) #11 was asked how much assistance Resident #15 needed with ADL's (Activities of Daily Living)? LPN #11 stated, Resident #15 can help roll over when in bed, but cannot get out of bed by alone. We use a total mechanical lift with two people. LPN #11 was asked if working the day Resident #15 had the fall from the lift? LPN #11 stated Yes I was working. LPN #11 was asked to describe what happened. LPN #11 stated, I was doing medication pass when [Resident #15] was being put back in bed. The CNA (Certified Nurse's Aide) came out to get another CNA. Then the other CNA came out and immediately got me. When I went into the room Resident was sitting right beside the bed between the legs of the lift. (Named CNA #6) and the Resident both said the lift pad that was divided was not under the Resident's bottom enough and when the aide went to transfer her, [Resident #15] slipped off. (The aide) said when he realized that the Resident was going down, he tried to ease [Resident] down. LPN #11 was asked when the Resident started to slip out of the lift pad, was there another aide in the room. LPN #11 stated, No it was just the one aide. LPN #11 was asked if there should there have been two aides in the room when the transfer was being done. LPN #11 stated, Yes. LPN #11 was asked, What did you do after you entered the room? LPN #11 stated, I immediately assessed the Resident. [Resident] did not want an x-ray or go to the hospital. [Resident] did not complain of any pain. Me and the other two CNAs got the Resident into the bed. I immediately told [CNA #6] he should not have done it on his own. LPN #11 was asked if all mechanical lift transfers were supposed to be done by two people. LPN #11 stated, Yes, and if they don't have a second CNA, I go with them to be the second person. LPN #11 was asked who they reported the incident to. LPN #11 stated, The Director of Nursing [DON]. LPN #11 was asked what was done after this incident occurred. LPN #11 stated, We all had to have a whole new education on how to do the lift. I was in-serviced and so was everyone else. LPN #11 was asked if the CNA that did the transfer by themselves still worked at the facility. LPN #11 stated, I didn't ask, but I have not seen him since. LPN #11 was asked, when you came to work for the facility, were you trained in the use of the lift? LPN #11 stated, Yes. LPN #11 was asked if the Resident sustained an injury from the incident. LPN #11 stated, once they did convince [Resident #15] to get an x-ray it showed a fractured sacrum.
m. On 06/25/2024 at 4:45 PM, the DON was asked if familiar with Resident #15's care. The DON stated, Yes. The DON was asked how much assistance the Resident required with ADL (Activities of Daily Living). The DON stated, [Resident #15] requires the lift for transfer but is set up with a lot of the other ADLs. The DON was asked, how long has the Resident required the lift for transfer? The DON stated, I have worked here for 6 months, and [Resident #15] has required the lift all during that time. The DON was asked how many people are required to do a mechanical lift transfer. The DON stated, Two people. The DON was asked if they were involved in the investigation when (Resident #15) fell out of the lift. The DON stated, Yes. The DON was asked to describe what happened. The DON stated, (Named CNA #6) was transferring [Resident #15], and [Resident #15] began to slip out of the lift pad. He assisted [Resident #15] to the floor. The DON was asked if CNA #6 was doing the transfer by himself. The DON stated, Upon investigation it looked like he was doing it by himself. The DON was asked how long the aide had worked for the facility at the time of the incident. The DON stated, I am not sure exactly, but I believe 2-3 months. The DON was asked what was done when the incident occurred. The DON stated, The immediate intervention was the nurse with him educated him and then he was suspended pending the investigation. The DON was asked, what day was he suspended? The DON stated, He was suspended on 06/03/2024. He was supposed to be on his days off, but we had called him in to work on the day of the incident. He was suspended as soon as I read his statement. That's when I identified he was by himself. I immediately pulled his lift check off to ensure that he was checked off prior to performing the lift transfer and he was. The Assistant Director of Nursing (ADON) and myself trained all the CNAs on the correct use of the lift and we did all new check offs on everyone. The DON was asked, how often do you do skills check offs on lift transfers on the aide staff? The DON stated, We do them on hire and then every three months. We did them again on the aides though at that time even if they had just been done. After we did the training, we, the ADON and I, did monitoring to ensure that staff were doing the procedure correctly and that there were two people at all times. The DON was asked, what happened with the CNA that did the transfer by themselves? The DON stated, He was ultimately terminated. He never worked again once he was suspended. The DON was asked, did you send a report into the state of the incident? The DON stated, No we did not. The DON then stated, We also had our service provider for the lifts (named provider) come out and check all the lifts to ensure it was not a failure with the lift. The MDS (Minimum Data Set) Coordinator also checked to make sure that every one that used a mechanical lift was appropriately marked on the kiosk. We even made a video of the correct use of the lift, and we use that with our in-service and skills check-off lists now The DON was asked if they let the Administrator know about the incident. The DON stated, Yes. Immediately.
The DON then provided the Surveyor the folder with the documentation of the investigation she did after the incident and the measures that were put in place to correct the deficient practice.
n. On 06/26/2024 at 5:00 PM, the form titled OLTC (Office of Long-Term Care) Witness Statement Form provided by the Director of Nurses dated 6/1/2024 at 4:30 PM and signed by CNA #6 on 6/03/2024 indicated, .I used the mechanical lift by myself to transfer (Resident #15) from the wheelchair to the bed. While [Resident #15]was in the air, [Resident] began to slip out of the lift pad from the lower body. It was too late to correct the problem, so I placed my arms underneath [Resident] and gradually lowered [Resident] to the ground to prevent a hard fall. Once [Resident] was on the ground, I asked if [Resident] was okay, and [Resident] responded that [Resident] was not hurt. I went and got (named LPN #11), the nurse and (named staff member), CNA to further assist me with getting (Resident) up from the ground. I believe the cause of this accident is that I did not tuck the lift pad enough under her body to keep [Resident] from slipping out. I used the light blue lift pad with 6 strings .
o. On 06/26/2024 at 8:50 AM, the Assistant Director of Nursing (ADON) was asked if familiar with Resident #15's care. The ADON stated, Yes. The ADON was asked how much assistance does Resident #15 require with ADL's. The ADON stated, [Resident #15] is a total assist for transfer so two people. Dressing can be done by one person. The ADON was asked if aware of the incident that happened with the lift on June 1st? The ADON stated, Yes. The ADON was asked how became aware of the incident. The ADON stated, It happened over the weekend, so I did not know about it until I came to work on Monday. Before the morning meeting, I always look at the incident and accident reports and that is when I saw [Resident #15] had an incident with the lift. We saw [Resident] had an x-ray and it showed [Resident] had a fracture. The ADON was asked what was done at that point. The ADON stated, We spoke with the Resident and called the CNA. We did an in-service and he was put on leave after we had him write a statement. After we did the rest of the investigation the CNA was terminated. The ADON was asked how they ensure that staff were doing the lift transfers correctly. The ADON stated, The Director of Nursing and I monitored lift transfers for the next two weeks to make sure there were two people and that the staff did the lift transfer correctly.
p. On 6/26/24 at 9:30 AM, the Administrator was asked when they became aware that Resident #15 had fallen from the lift. The Administrator stated, It happened on 06/01/2024. I became aware of the incident on 6/3/2024. The Administrator was asked how they become aware of the incident. The Administrator stated, The Resident started complaining of pain and [Resident #15] had an x-ray done and I think [Resident' s] tail bone was injured. The incident and accident report did not say anything about [Resident] complaining of pain and it did not say anything about him doing it (the transfer) by himself. The Administrator was asked what was done to investigate the incident. The Administrator stated, We did interviews. That is when we discovered that he did the transfer by himself. We did in-service for all staff. We did check off lists for lift transfers on staff and put a monitor in place to be sure staff were doing the transfers correctly. The employee was terminated for not following policy, but we checked first to make sure he had done the lift skills list prior to doing lift transfers and he had. The Administrator was asked if all lift transfers are supposed to be done by two people. The Administrator stated, Yes.
r. On 06/26/2024 at 12:00 PM, the Administrator was asked for a policy on mechanical lift transfers.
s. On 06/26/2024 at 12:05 PM, the Director of Nursing stated, We do not have a policy on lift transfers, we refer to the Manufactures Guidelines
2. The Medical Diagnoses portion of Resident #49's electronic health record revealed diagnoses of Alzheimer disease, vascular dementia, and anxiety disorder.
a. The Quarterly Minimum Data Set (MDS) with an Assessment Reference Date (ARD) of 05/22/2024 documented Resident #49 scored 03 (00-07 indicates severely impaired cognition) on the Brief Interview for mental Status (BIMS)
b. Review of the Care Plan with a revision date of 02/09/2024 revealed Resident #49 re-arranges furniture and pulls out drawers in his/her room and will also place it in bathroom related to dementia and poor safety awareness.
c. On 06/24/2024 at 10:14 AM, the surveyor observed in Resident #49's bathroom a can of disinfectant spray and a can of cleaning spray solution.
d. On 06/24/2024 at 3:55 PM, the surveyor observed in Resident #49's bathroom a can of disinfectant spray and a can of cleaning spray solution.
e. On 06/25/2024 at 8:35 AM, the surveyor observed in Resident #49's bathroom a can of disinfectant spray and a can of cleaning spray solution.
f. On 06/26/2024 at 8:41 AM, the surveyor observed in Resident #49's bathroom a can of disinfectant spray and a can of cleaning spray solution.
g. On 06/26/2024 at 10:18 AM, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) #7 was asked to describe the facility protocol for allowing residents to keep cleaning agents and disinfectant sprays in their room. CNA #7 stated they are not supposed to have them in their rooms, we are supposed to lock them up in the shower room. CNA #7 was asked if residents wander into other resident's rooms. CNA #7 replied, Yes, all the time. CNA #7 was asked who is responsible for making sure chemicals and disinfectants aren't left out in resident ' s rooms. CNA #7 replied, The CNA's, nurse, housekeeping, and anyone who goes in the room. CNA #7 was asked how often the rooms checked to assure chemicals are not left out in a resident ' s room. CNA #7 replied, Every shift.
The Surveyor took CNA #7 into the Resident's room to the bathroom and asked her to describe what she saw. CNA #7 identified a can of disinfectant and a can of cleaning spray.
On 06/26/2024 at 10:36 AM, LPN #8 was asked to explain the facility protocol for having chemicals and disinfectants in a resident's rooms. LPN #8 replied, They should never have it in their room. LPN #8 was asked who is responsible for making sure that these chemicals are not in the residents rooms. LPN#8 replied, All the staff. CNAs should check the room every shift but anyone who goes in the room should be checking. The Surveyor took LPN #8 to Resident #49 ' s bathroom and asked her to describe what she saw. LPN #8 said there is a can of cleaning spray and a can of disinfectant. LPN #8 was asked if this was safe to be in this room. LPN #8 replied, No, it isn't. LPN #8 was asked how often rooms should be checked to assure that chemicals are not in the residents rooms. LPN #8 replied, When you first arrive on the shift and after housekeeping leaves to assure, they didn't leave a can of something in the room.
On 06/26/2024 at 10:50 AM, the DON was asked for the facility protocol regarding having chemicals and disinfectants in a resident ' s room. The DON replied, They are not allowed to have them in their rooms. The DON was asked if residents wander into other residents rooms. The DON replied, Yes, all the time. The DON was asked who is responsible for making sure that chemicals are not left in a resident's rooms. The DON replied that every person who goes in that room should be checking and if found remove them. The DON was asked how often are rooms checked to ensure there are no chemicals in residents rooms. The DON replied, They are checked a minimal of every 2 hours or when someone goes in the room.
On 06/26/2024 at 2:48 PM, the facility was asked to provide a policy and surveyor was informed they did not have a policy.