A North Dakota certified nurse aide (CNA) was sentenced to serve 1 year and 1 day in jail after a jury found her guilty of Aggravated Assault Causing Permanent Impairment, and Reckless Endangerment. The CNA had performed an improper, one-person lift of a nursing home resident, which caused a severe and painful injury to the resident. The CNA also failed to report the injury. After the jail term, she must complete 3 years of supervised probation and is prohibited from working in care settings for that time period.
The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, a division of the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office, with the assistance of the Valley City Police Department. The Unit reported the sentence to the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and the CNA will be excluded from receiving payments from any federal healthcare program such as Medicaid or Medicare. The exclusion will last a minimum of 5 years. The exclusion effectively prohibits the CNA from working with patients in the healthcare industry.
Attorney General Wrigley said, “This sentence serves the dual purpose of holding the offender accountable for her heartless conduct and protecting the citizens of North Dakota. The Attorney General’s Office is committed to protecting vulnerable adults receiving services in long-term care settings, and we are asking the legislature for additional personnel so we can further elevate these priority investigations and prosecutions.”
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.*
