Long-Term Care Survey Alert

Survey Management:

Thinking On Your Feet Can Keep You From Slipping Into A Survey Disaster.

This NF's quick response left it deficiency free at the end of the day.

The way your facility approaches an incident resulting in resident harm can make a big difference in how surveyors respond, so make sure you're prepared to respond with lightening speed.
 
That's what Glenburn Home in Linton, IN discovered when the facility initiated a self-reported complaint survey after its administrators concluded that a resident sustained a fracture due to improper use of transfer technique by caregiving staff.
 
"The surveyors came in on a Thursday and said they'd be leaving on Friday afternoon, which isn't atypical," recalls facility administrator Norma Lesher.  So when the surveyors called that same afternoon to announce they were ready to do the exit, Glenburn administrators feared the worst.
 
But the surveyors said they believed the facility had done everything it could to investigate the incident, document the investigation - and take immediate steps to resolve the problem. "The facility ended up with no deficiencies," Lesher reports.
 
Here's what the facility did:

 

  •  An inservice on transfer technique conducted the day after the incident was discovered;
     
  •  Competency checks on transfer technique for all clinical staff; and
     
  •  Abuse and neglect inservices and assessment of staff competencies in that area.
     
    Facility DON Tammy Alley says she doesn't view the state board of health as an agency to fear, if a facility does things correctly. "They expect things are going to happen in long-term care, such as injuries and fractures," she says. "But their question is: What are you going to do about them? How are you investigating and preventing it from happening again?
     
    "In our experience, if you go through the process find out why an incident occurred and implement the systems and programs that you believe are going to work - and then follow through to see that they are working - you won't get in trouble with the state," says Alley. 
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