Failure to Prevent Elopement of Cognitively Impaired Resident With Known Elopement History
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to prevent an elopement of a resident with moderately impaired cognition and a known history of elopement. The resident had been admitted with diagnoses including non‑traumatic brain dysfunction and dementia, and a BIMS score of 9 indicated moderately impaired cognition. Prior records from a community acute care hospital documented that the resident had previously eloped from another nursing facility, which then refused to accept the resident back. A family member reported during admission that the resident was an elopement risk, had memory problems from a motor vehicle accident, and had previously been hit by a car while walking in the community. The family member stated they informed staff of this history during the admission process. The social worker later stated they learned of the resident’s elopement history from hospital records after admission and reported it verbally to nursing staff during a morning meeting, but did not document either the information or the notification. On the night of the incident, staff last observed the resident between approximately 3:30 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. during night‑shift rounds. When a CNA reported for duty shortly before 7:00 a.m. and went to the resident’s room, the resident was not present. The CNA and an LPN searched the building and surrounding area but could not locate the resident, and the CNA reported that the window in the resident’s room remained secured with the screen in place, and they did not know how the resident exited the building. An incident report documented that staff discovered the resident missing at approximately 6:20 a.m., and that the resident was later found in the community near a local public school approximately 2.2 miles from the facility at about 8:40 a.m. An LPN stated they learned the resident was missing at about 8:00 a.m. and assessed the resident upon return, finding no injuries. The administrator stated they were unable to definitively identify how the resident eloped from the facility.
Removal Plan
- The administrator contacted the QAPI committee members and created a performance improvement plan which included continued inspections of points of possible egress from the facility, staff education on elopement was initiated, continued 1:1 monitoring of the resident until discontinued by their physician, and ongoing monitoring of elopement prevention procedures by the administration and QAPI committee.
- The maintenance supervisor inspected the locks and code pads to all doors that lead to the outside of the building.
- The maintenance supervisor checked to ensure each window remained locked and secure from being opened by residents.
- The resident was placed on 1:1 monitoring for high elopement risk.
- The facility completed mandatory staff training on elopement prevention for staff, with participation verified through training sign-in sheets and interviews.
We Help Long-Term Care Teams Stay Survey-Ready
We process and analyze inspection reports and plan of correction using AI to extract insights and trends so providers can improve care quality and stay ahead of compliance risks.