A July 27, 2011 DOH Deficiency Survey cited Long Island nursing home Berkshire Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for several shortcomings. Among these deficiencies, the DOH noted a failure to ensure that a resident’s drug regimen was free from unnecessary drugs, a violation of Title 42 section 483.25(l) of the CFR.
In this specific case, the DOH discovered that a resident had been prescribed several psychoactive medications. As this resident had been diagnosed with dementia and depression, these prescriptions alone are not abnormal. Prior to prescribing the medications, however, the facility did not properly assess the resident and failed to weigh the potential benefits of alternative treatment. According to the Code, the facility must ensure that residents who have not used antipsychotic drugs in the past are not given them, unless such drugs are necessary to treat a specific condition as documented in the patient’s record. Additionally, according to the surveyors, the facility failed to monitor the effectiveness of the medications once they were prescribed.
Other deficiencies documented in this report, such as failure to develop and implement proper care plans and failure to create an activity program meeting individual needs, are in the full DOH report here.
