Complaint Investigation Report

Staff not trained to meet residents’ incontinence needs.

On the allegation that staff are not trained to meet residents’ incontinent needs; it is the concern of the reporting party (RP) that the staff force residents when addressing incontinence needs. On 06/16/2023, LPA Lopez interviewed the RP, and the RP stated that staff and administrator said it’s okay to hold down, or force residents when assisting with incontinence needs. On 08/08/2024, LPA Urena interviewed Nancy Nelson, Executive Director (ED) at 1:45 p.m. Per the ED, the staff receive training on how to address incontinence needs for residents with dementia. It is part of the initial training staff receive. The training is an on-line training (Total Incontinence Management Program (TIM)). Caregivers watch all training videos prior to this validation process. Once caregivers successfully complete the validation checklist, they will then complete a final exam to become TIM certified. The ED denied making such comments. The LPA reviewed training records for five facility staff, and the record review revealed that staff successfully completed incontinent training. Furthermore, the LPA interviewed staff about the process of assisting residents who resist incontinence care. The interviews revealed that the staff may try different techniques to engage the residents to agree to the incontinent care. The staff may distract the residents with questions, or by showing them items that may attract the resident, or ask another staff to assist, “sometimes, a different face, or voice may get the resident to cooperate”. The staff stated that they check residents every two hours and change the diapers as needed. Staff denied forcing or holding down residents while addressing incontinence needs.

Although the allegation may have happened or is valid, based on the interviews and record review, there is not sufficient evidence to prove the alleged violation did or did not occur, therefore the allegation is deemed Unsubstantiated at this time.