Iowa Nursing Home Facility Fined In Resident Death
Belle Plaine Nursing and Rehab Center was fined $10,000 for failing to assess a resident and provide timely care.
The fine is connected with a February 1, 2010 incident where a resident was found in bed with a fractured thighbone around 6:20 a.m. The resident suffered from dementia and osteoporosis, among other things. The facility, reportedly unaware of how the resident sustained the injury, was unable to offer an explanation. According to an orthopedic surgeon, the broken thighbone was the result of a trauma that could not have occurred while lying in bed. The injury was the result of a fall or twisting of the leg. After being treated at the hospital, the resident was returned to the facility.
On February 4, 2010, a hospice nurse noticed a large bump on the same resident's arm. The bump turned out to be another fracture. The resident died on February 5, 2010 with the death certificate listing cardiopulmonary failure and failure to thrive as causes of death.
According to an investigative report, the facility failed to assess the resident prior to administering morphine on February 1 around 12:20 a.m. after the resident was moaning and agitated. Staff reported that while anti-anxiety medications did not work for the resident the previous day, morphine was calming for the resident.
