Park Nursing Home received 39 citations for violations of public health laws between 2015 and 2019, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on January 3, 2020. The Rockaway Park nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of eight inspections by state surveyors. The violations they describe include the following:
1. The nursing home did not ensure residents were protected from abuse. Under Section 483.12 of the Federal Code, nursing homes must ensure their residents “the right to be free from abuse, neglect, misappropriation of resident property, and exploitation.” A February 2019 citation found Park Nursing Home did not ensure its residents remained free from abuse. The citation specifically found that “a cognitively impaired resident who displays physical aggression towards others physically assaulted more than one resident, one more than one occasion.” An inspector found that whereas the facility implemented interventions to address this resident’s conduct, these interventions “were not evaluated for their effectiveness.” A Director of Nursing stated in an interview that these interventions included separating the resident from others, close monitoring, and placing him with residents able to defend themselves; the DON said also that “these interventions were not all documented and should have been.”
2. The nursing home did not provide residents adequate supervision to prevent elopement. Section 483.25 of the Federal Code requires that nursing homes provide residents with “adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents.” An October 2018 citation found that Park Nursing Home did not adequately supervise a resident who had been “identified at risk for elopement” and who refused to wear a wander guard device. The citation goes on to state that the resident eloped the facility after climbing its back gate without staff knowledge; it notes specifically that the Registered Nursing Supervisor was not notified of the elopement until approximately three hours after it occurred, and the resident was returned after another two hours. The citation notes that the elopement was attributed in part to “a breach in security,” and the facility’s plan of correction included the termination of a security officer “who left his post.”
3. The nursing home did not adequately prevent medication errors. Section 483.45 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing homes must ensure their residents “are free of any significant medication errors.” An August 2017 citation found that Park Nursing Home failed to ensure its residents “received medications in accordance with manufacture’s specifications to minimize risks of potential significant medication errors.” It goes on to state specifically that on at least three instances, a Licensed Practical Nurse administered to a resident antipsychotic medication that the LPN borrowed from another resident without obtaining necessary blood measurements. The facility’s plan of correction in response to the citation included emphasizing in its internal policies that “under no circumstance will a nurse borrow medication from another resident.”
The attorneys at the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC work diligently to protect the rights of nursing home residents. Please contact us to discuss in the event you have a potential case involving neglect or abuse.
