By: Clark Kauffman
 |
| Heritage Specialty Care in Cedar Rapids was fined for the financial
exploitation of a resident earlier this year and is now accused of using
untrained caregivers. (Photo via Google Earth) |
A Cedar Rapids nursing home previously fined for the financial
exploitation of a resident has now been cited for using untrained
caregivers.
State inspectors say the abuse involved a worker at Heritage
Specialty Care who allegedly took $1,625 from a resident with a spinal
cord injury. The worker then taunted the man, sending him text messages
in which she called him a “vegetable” and “veggie boy.”
The inspectors also allege that Heritage, which is home to 156 older Iowans and is operated by West Des Moines’ Care Initiatives,
has failed to provide its training nursing assistants, or TNAs, with
either the state-approved training or the required competency
evaluations.
According to inspectors, the TNAs are supposed to complete an
eight-hour, online training course and then complete a skills-competency
checklist through job-shadowing with a licensed worker, before working
on their own.
Heritage’s nurse manager told inspectors in August that he felt an
eight-hour online course was not sufficient training to perform the
duties of a fully certified nurse aide and so prior to June 2020, he did
not hire a single TNA to work in the home. After that, he said, the
home’s owner began hiring TNAs.
One TNA at the home told inspectors the home’s training program was
“not so good” and said she had worked independently at the home before
completing the required competency checklist. She said it seemed to her
that “everyone hired as a TNA worked with someone for four to five days
and then went out on their own,” working independently, because the home
was “so short-staffed.”
Another TNA agreed with that assessment and said she had refused to
work on her own until completing the required skills checklist.
A third TNA confirmed the practice and said the home failed to
provide adequate training to do her job. She said she had failed her
community college exam to become a certified nurse aide and felt she
needed more training but still worked independently in the home caring
for residents.
A fourth worker told inspectors she was trained not by a certified
nurse aide but by another TNA who had let her certified nurse aide’s
license lapse.
That trainer told inspectors she was given no training when hired at
the home and said management gave her a certified nurse aide badge and
then “acted like” she was fully certified. Inspectors reported the nurse
said it “made no sense” to her that she was used to train other TNAs,
adding, “what else was I supposed to do” when residents needed help.
Cook tried to serve oatmeal from garbage can
Inspectors also cited the home for unsanitary practices. A cook at
the home, when asked by a nurse for a bowl of oatmeal for a resident,
opted not to make a fresh bowl of oatmeal and instead went to a garbage
can intending to scoop out some of the discarded oatmeal that was
sitting in the trash receptacle.
The nurse refused to accept the oatmeal from the trash, telling the cook, “Absolutely not.”
In addition, the home was cited for inadequate infection control.
Inspectors reported that while on site, they observed a dietary aide, a
certified nurse aide and an occupational therapist working with
residents without the required face mask in place.
The home also was cited for insufficient staff, with one resident
complaining she had to wait up to an hour to have her call light
answered.
No fines were imposed by the state as a result of the inspectors’
findings in August. The home filed a plan of correction with the state
that indicates it will address the citation for insufficient staff by
providing “staff education.” The home has also indicated it will ensure
TNAs receive the required training.
Worker allegedly took $1,625 from resident
In April 2022, the home paid a total of $650 in fines for resident
abuse related to financial exploitation and for failure to conduct
adequate background checks on workers.
At the time, inspectors alleged a nurse aide at the home had sold her
cell phone to a resident late last year for $800 and then failed to
turn over the phone. A few weeks later, when the worker was on a trip
with her family, she sent a message to that same resident’s old phone,
asking him to send her more money.
“Can you do $200 and I’ll pay you back when I start working more
hours again,” the message read, according to inspectors who examined the
resident’s phone. The resident then provided the money through an app
on his phone.
The same resident told inspectors that after he loaned the worker his
debit card to order him a pizza, unauthorized charges for Door Dash
showed up on his bill and he had to cancel his card. In January, when
the worker asked the man for another $200 and he refused, the worker
sent him what the man called “mean and hateful” messages, calling him a
“vegetable” and “veggie boy.”
According to inspectors, the messages, which were archived on the
resident’s phone, stated: “Thanks again for saying you would help us and
then go back on your own word … Have fun sitting in that s— hole with
that big ego of yours.”
At one point, the worker indicated she’d soon be leaving her job at
Heritage, stating, “I’m not there for the rest of my life … 11 days and
I’m out sweetie … How many days ya got in heritage? Yikes, I think it’s
more than 11 … But enjoy.”
When the man indicated he might report his debit card as stolen, the
worker wrote back, “Good luck. LOL. I’ll tell them you let me use your
card … You’ll look like a retarded vegetable lol.”
A review of transactions on resident’s cash app revealed 10
transactions, indicating the resident had transferred $1,625 to the
worker.
Six other Iowa nursing homes run by Care Initiatives have been cited for major violations
in recent weeks. They face fines of up to $80,250, and additional
penalties may yet be imposed by the federal Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services. The company has not responded to requests for
comment.
Full Article & Source:
Cedar Rapids care facility cited for untrained workers, resident abuse
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