The daughter of an 82-year-old resident with dementia, who has resided for three years in a Pennsylvania nursing home, claims that an aide recently assaulted her father. The woman reports that her father told her, “a young guy beat him up.” The incident allegedly occurred on New Year’s Day.
The daughter claims that a nurse called her to report that an aide in the nursing home had assaulted her father. The daughter gave the following description of the incident to a news reporter:
“An aide was trying to assist my dad down the hall to get changed because he’s incontinent. And my dad said he didn’t want to go but (the aide) was insistent on taking my dad down to the room. Somehow there was a big commotion that came on, and that’s when other nurses and aides came running to my dad because they heard him utter the words, ‘Get off of me.’ ”
A spokesperson for the nursing home told a reporter that the local police had been contacted, and a police report was filed. However, the spokesperson said they do not know what caused the incident. The aide, who is a newer employee, was suspended without pay pending the outcome of an investigation, and a report was filed with the State Department of Health.
The daughter indicated that she would be pressing charges if the police do not.
Compliance Perspective
Failure by a nursing home to protect residents from the abuse and neglect that results when an employee uses force and causes injuries in an effort to provide care for a resistant resident with dementia may be considered provision of substandard quality of care, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points
- Review policies and procedures regarding investigating and reporting of incidents involving altercations between staff and residents with dementia, the training of staff to prevent altercations, and the prohibited use of physical force.
- Train staff about abuse and neglect and ways to approach and provide care to residents with dementia without using force.
- Periodically audit reported incidents involving staff-to-resident altercations to determine if staff have been trained in and are applying non-confrontational, supportive methods of providing care to residents.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC: STAFF SENSITIVITY TOWARD RESIDENTS
