P5520

Facility Fails to Meet Nurse Aide Staffing Ratios

Sugar Creek Care CenterFranklin, Pennsylvania Survey Completed on 01-03-2025

Summary

The facility failed to meet the required nurse aide (NA) staffing ratios on multiple occasions during the review period from December 18, 2024, to December 31, 2024. Specifically, the facility did not have enough NAs on the day shift for four days, the evening shift for four days, and the overnight shift for one day. The required ratio of one NA per 10 residents during the day, one NA per 11 residents during the evening, and one NA per 15 residents overnight was not met. For instance, on December 19, 2024, with a census of 96 residents, only 9.43 NAs worked when 9.60 were required for the day shift. The deficiency was confirmed during a telephone interview with the Nursing Home Administrator on January 3, 2025, who acknowledged that the facility did not meet the minimum NA ratios on the specified days and shifts. The report provides detailed staffing numbers for each day where the facility fell short of the required NA ratios, highlighting the specific shortages in staffing that led to the deficiency.

Plan Of Correction

The Facility submits this Plan of Correction under procedures established by the Department of Health in order to comply with the Department's directive to change conditions which the Department alleges is deficient under State and/or Federal Long Term Care Regulations. This Plan of Correction should not be construed as either a waiver of the facility's right to appeal or challenge the accuracy or severity of the alleged deficiencies or an admission of past or ongoing violation of State or Federal regulatory requirements. 1. The facility cannot correct that the nurse aide staffing ratio was not met on 12/19, 12/22, 12/24, 12/25, 12/26, 12/28, and 12/29/24. 2. System changes will be put into place to ensure minimum requirements to be put into place will include: 3. Facility currently has multiple nursing staff members in the onboarding process to start employment at the facility. 4. All nursing positions are actively posted in recruitment. 5. Holding open interview day. 6. Bonuses are offered on an as needed basis. 7. Staff are mandated as appropriate. 8. Call offs will continue to be monitored, and disciplines will be issued, as appropriate. 9. When call offs occur, all available staff members will be called to ask if they will fill the vacancy to ensure the appropriate staffing levels. 10. On a daily basis, the facility reviews the ability to take admissions based on the staffing numbers. 11. All RN's and staffing coordinator will be educated on staffing ratios. 12. RN supervisors will be educated that they will need to mandate staff for call off to make sure facility does not fall below staffing ratios per DOH regulations. 13. Daily meetings will be held to review schedule with ratios. 14. Nursing supervisors will monitor on weekends. If the facility is projected to not meet staffing ratios the nursing supervisor/or designee will call off duty facility staff, will notify Director of Nursing and will utilize pick-up bonuses. DON (Director of Nursing) or designee will monitor staffing ratios by reviewing the current working schedule and assignment sheets prior to the day and after the day is complete to ensure compliance daily x 10 days then weekly x 6 weeks, then Q monthly x2 to ensure compliance. The DON (Director of Nursing), NHA (Nursing Home Administrator), and staffing coordinator will be in the daily meetings to monitor staffing ratios. This will be reviewed at the Quarterly QAPI meetings.

Penalty

No penalty information released
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The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
See other P5520 citations
Failure to Meet Minimum NA-to-Resident Ratio on a Day Shift
P5520
Short Summary

The facility did not meet required NA staffing ratios on one reviewed day shift. Review of nursing schedules over a multi-week period showed that on a specific day shift, the number of NAs scheduled did not meet the mandated minimum of one NA per ten residents. During a subsequent interview, the DON confirmed that the facility failed to comply with the required NA-to-resident ratio for that shift.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Maintain Minimum Night Shift Nurse Aide Staffing Ratios
P5520
Short Summary

Facility administrative staff did not consistently meet required minimum nurse aide staffing ratios on the night shift, as shown by a review of nursing schedules and census data over a multi-week period. On multiple nights, the total nurse aide hours provided were below the calculated hours needed to maintain at least one nurse aide per 15 residents, resulting in several shifts where required coverage was not achieved. The Nursing Home Administrator acknowledged that the facility failed to provide the mandated minimum nurse aide staffing on these night shifts.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Meet Minimum Nurse Aide Staffing Ratios Across Multiple Shifts
P5520
Short Summary

The facility did not meet required minimum NA staffing ratios on multiple day, evening, and night shifts during a reviewed period. Staffing records showed that, with a census of approximately 58–59 residents, actual NA hours on several day and evening shifts, and one night shift, were below the hours needed to achieve mandated ratios of 1 NA per 10 residents on days, 1 NA per 11 residents on evenings, and 1 NA per 15 residents overnight. The DON confirmed that the required number of NAs was not provided on the identified shifts.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Maintain Minimum Nurse Aide Day-Shift Staffing Ratios
P5520
Short Summary

Surveyors found that on two reviewed days, the facility did not provide the required minimum number of nurse aides on the day shift relative to the number of residents. Staffing records showed that the nurse aide-to-resident ratio fell below the mandated standard, and the NHA acknowledged that the required nurse aide staffing ratios were not met on those days.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Maintain Required NA-to-Resident Staffing Ratios Across Multiple Shifts
P5520
Short Summary

Surveyors found that the facility repeatedly failed to meet required NA-to-resident staffing ratios on multiple day, evening, and night shifts. Review of census and staffing schedules showed that the number of NAs scheduled and providing care was consistently below the minimum required based on the number of residents, with shortfalls documented on numerous shifts across several weeks. There were no additional higher-level staff available to offset these NA shortages, and the Administrator confirmed that the required staffing ratios were not met on the identified shifts.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Maintain Minimum Nurse Aide Staffing Ratios
P5520
Short Summary

The facility did not maintain the required NA-to-resident staffing ratios on multiple reviewed shifts, as shown by weekly staffing records and staff interviews. For a census of 28 residents, the facility was required to staff specific minimum NA levels on day and evening shifts but instead scheduled fewer NAs than mandated, and no additional higher-level staff were present to offset the shortfall. The NHA acknowledged that the required NA-to-resident ratios were not met on the identified shifts.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.

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