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Five Iowa care facilities cited for abuse-related violations • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- March']
Date: 2024-03-21
Five Iowa nursing homes have been sanctioned by the state recently for their handling of allegations that residents were abused of mistreated.
Aspire of Washington was fined $500 for failing to immediately inform the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing of the alleged sexual abuse of a resident. According to state inspectors, a male resident had asked an employee why they hadn’t seen a particular female certified nursing assistant recently and inquired whether that was because the CNA was fired for having a relationship with him.
The resident, who was diagnosed with a moderate cognitive impairment, told the staffer that he had engaged in intercourse with the CNA on a mattress on the floor, and provided specific details of other sexual encounters with the CNA. Three days later, the staffer gathered two other employees to meet with the resident, who repeated the same allegations to the other workers.
The employees allegedly told state inspectors the resident was consistent in describing the specifics of the situation. One of the employees reportedly told the inspectors the director of nursing, when informed of the situation, instructed the staff not to “encourage” such talk.
The matter wasn’t reported to the state until three days after the resident’s initial report. One day later, the facility notified the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals and Licensing. State records do not indicate whether the CNA continued to work at the facility.
In addition to being fined $500 for failing to report the abuse allegation in a timely manner, the home was cited for inadequate quality of care, medication errors and failure to have sufficient staff on hand.
Workers at the home told inspectors there were not enough caregivers on staff to meet all of the residents’ needs. One employee allegedly reported working 16 hours straight without a break.
The home was also cited for failing to maintain a clean, homelike environment, with one resident’s room noted to have a strong smell or urine, a sticky floor, and a blanket wrapped around a broken toilet to catch water and urine leaking from the bowl.
Other Iowa homes recently cited for the abuse or mistreatment of residents include:
Bethany Life of Story City: The facility was cited for failing to prevent abuse and for staffing issues that resulted in an unsafe environment, with one resident of the dementia unit falling and sustaining serious injuries.
Workers allegedly told inspectors the 15-resident unit was often short-staffed, and two certified nursing assistants complained of being scheduled to work with only a medication aide to assist them rather than the expected registered nurse, medication aide, another CNA and a housekeeper. One of the CNAs said that had the unit been fully staffed, the facility could have prevented the resident’s fall and subsequent hospitalization. The director of nursing acknowledged the unit was not fully staffed but told inspectors staffing was not a concern. The staffing issue resulted in a $7,000 fine.
The home was also fined $500 for each of two abuse-related violations. One of the incidents involved a nurse manager overhearing a male CNA telling a resident, “Trust me, you don’t want to p— me off,” and a housekeeper observing the same CNA get in a resident’s face while yelling, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut the f— up!” According to inspectors, the administrator was unable to provide video of the incidents despite the home’s use of cameras because video footage is routinely deleted at the end of each day.
The second abuse violation related to the facility’s alleged failure to adequately investigate five incidents of reported abuse. One of the five cases involved a staff member who allegedly offered sexual favors to a male resident with severe dementia, and another involved some unspecified form of abuse allegedly committed by an overnight worker.
Fleur Heights of Des Moines: During a February inspection at the home, a resident told inspectors he felt a CNA had been so physically rough with him that he felt scared and reported the incident to the director of nursing. The facility was fined $500 for failing to report the matter to the state until 17 days had passed.
Courage Homes of Sioux City: This intermediate care facility for people with disabilities was fined $500 for failing to inform the state of an allegation that a male worker had abused a blind, 26-year-old male resident with cerebral palsy by gripping the man’s hands tightly and holding them down on a table until a colleague told him to release the resident.
Grandview Heights of Marshalltown: The facility was cited for failing to treat residents with dignity and respect. A male resident of the home alleged a former employee had called him names and instilled such fear in him that he “called the local authorities” for their assistance and reported the matter to other employees. The administrator told inspectors that after the incident took place, the accused worker’s employment ended.
Separately, an incontinent female resident of the home reported that a CNA frequently spoke to her in a degrading manner while cleaning her, saying things like, “This is not what I wanted to do today.” A worker backed up that allegation, saying she had twice seen the CNA make the resident cry. The home was fined $500 for failing complete criminal background checks on three employees prior to them working with residents.
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