A jury recently found that a former resident of a Miami nursing home had his statutorily mandated residential rights violated when the facility’s nurses failed to properly manage his urinary tract infection that developed into urosepsis. The resident was awarded $114,510.62 in total recovery from the jury.
The former resident was initially admitted to the Miami nursing home for skilled rehabilitation services after surgical intervention to repair a broken hip. Due to the surgery, the former resident had required catheterization of his bladder. On May 3, 2017, the former resident was unable to completely empty his bladder. The next day his urination became painful. In the days following, the nurses at the Miami nursing home documented that the man’s blood pressure was decreasing, and that his heart rate was increasing. On May 7, 2017, he was transferred to an acute hospital where he underwent treatment of urosepsis, a residual effect of a urinary tract infection. His urosepsis developed into septic shock.
The formal resident spent two weeks at an acute care hospital, and then required months of physical therapy, part of which was related to the surgical repair of his hip. He did have a full recovery.
During the trial, the Miami nursing home’s lawyer argued that the former resident’s age and comorbidities led to an increased susceptibility to a urinary tract infection. The plaintiff’s lawyer also argued that an infection was indicated by the symptoms that the former resident presented during the period May 3 to May 7, 2017.
At the jury trial, an expert nurse stated that a physician should have been consulted on May 3 or May 4, 2017. An infectious disease expert stated that timely intervention would have led to the administration of an antibiotic that would have uneventfully resolved the man’s urinary tract infection. Additionally, the infectious disease expert stated that an early intervention would have averted his hospitalization.
The jury found that the man’s statutorily mandated residential rights were violated by the nursing home’s nurses who failed to properly manage his condition. It was also determined that the former resident’s damages totaled $114,510.62. After the addition of prevailing-party costs, the former resident’s recovery totaled $128,766.72.
Issue:
All licensed staff must be knowledgeable in signs and symptoms of infections and that these infections can develop into septic shock. A facility’s infection prevention and control plan should address urinary tract infections and the steps that should be taken when a urinary tract infection is suspected. Nursing staff must be competent in identifying infections to ensure resident safety and to maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident.
Discussion Points:
- Review your policies and procedures on competencies for all staff members. Update as needed.
- All staff should be trained and competent in all areas of their job duties. Staff skills should be checked during orientation, annually, and when needed. Document that the competencies were completed and file in each staff member’s education file.
- Periodically audit to ensure that staff competencies are being verified during orientation, annually, and as issues arise.
