A man entered a Texas nursing home on October 25 to hide from an attacker. According to facility staff, he entered through the front doors at around 8:30 p.m. and went into a conference room, where he locked himself in. He was able to get into the facility because someone had exited the building earlier and had not ensured that the doors were closed and locked afterward.
Police responded to the reported intrusion, and the man explained that he had entered the building to escape from someone who had attacked him. The alleged attacker was located a few blocks away from the nursing home, and was arrested by the police. He was charged with aggravated assault, making a threat with a deadly weapon, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
The nursing home has since taken additional precautions for the safety of residents and staff by locking the doors daily from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. People may enter or exit the building during those hours only by a door near the nursing station.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
F563 says that facilities should include reasonable clinical and safety restrictions in their policies, procedures, and practices to protect the health and security of all residents and staff. These restrictions can include, but are not limited to:
- Keeping the facility locked or secured at night with a system in place for allowing visitors approved by residents
- Denying access or providing limited and supervised access to an individual if that individual is suspected of abusing, exploiting, or coercing a resident until an investigation into the allegation has been completed or has been found to be abusing, exploiting, or coercing a resident
- Denying access to individuals who have been found to have been committing criminal acts such as theft
- Denying access to individuals who are inebriated or disruptive
- Denying access or providing supervised visitation to individuals who have a history of bringing illegal substances into the facility which places residents’ health and safety at risk
Discussion Points
- Review facility policies and procedures to make sure they include reasonable clinical and safety restrictions to protect the health and security of all residents and staff.
- Train staff to observe for unauthorized persons in the facility, to report those persons immediately to their supervisor, and to exercise care to ensure that an unauthorized person cannot obtain the code used to open the doors.
- Periodically audit to determine if codes to the electronically locked doors are regularly changed and that staff ensure that when they enter and leave, the doors close behind them and are locked so that no unauthorized person can enter.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice*
