A jury found a North Dakota certified nursing aide (CNA) guilty of Aggravated Assault causing permanent impairment and Reckless Endangerment. The evidence at the trial showed that the CNA performed an improper, one-person lift of a nursing home resident which resulted in severe and painful injuries to the resident. The evidence also showed the CNA failed to report the injury. This caused the resident to be undiagnosed and untreated for more than 12 hours.
The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, a division of the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office, with assistance from the local police department. The CNA is being held in custody until the date of her sentencing hearing on November 29, 2022.
“[The CNA] callously committed these horrible crimes against a vulnerable adult. I want to thank the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for thoroughly investigating this crime and successfully pursuing justice. My thoughts are with the family of the victim, and I hope that holding [the CNA] accountable provides them with some measure of healing,” Attorney General Wrigley said.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Failure to ensure that residents’ care plans are followed regarding the need for two-person transfers, failure by staff members to report residents’ falls, and the deliberate deception by any staff member in the circumstances of a resident’s injury may be considered neglect, immediate jeopardy of resident safety, and provision of substandard quality of care, in violation of state and federal regulations. Facilities also must ensure that all alleged violations involving abuse, neglect, exploitation, or mistreatment, including injuries of unknown source and misappropriation of resident property, are reported immediately, but not later than 2 hours after discovery if the allegation involves abuse or results in serious bodily injury, or not later than 24 hours if the allegation does not involve abuse and does not result in serious bodily injury.
Discussion Points
- Review policies and procedures regarding the implementation of required transfer policies for residents by staff members. Also review your policies and procedures for reporting of incidents/accidents to ensure they include current requirements.
- Train staff to follow residents’ care plan transfer instructions, abuse and neglect prevention requirements, and on reporting requirements for events with and without serious injury. Conduct annual competencies for all types of transfer assistance.
- Periodically audit residents’ care plans and transfer policies and observe to determine if staff members are following those protocols. Also audit your incident/accident reports to ensure that all issues where reporting is required were managed timely with appropriate follow-up.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice*
