Hastings nursing home cited for neglect after resident suffered head injury and died

A Hastings nursing home has been cited for neglect after a man fell in March and wasn't properly cared for after the fall. The man died two days later at the hospital.

According to a report issued by the Minnesota Department of Health Facility Complaints office, the neglect "occurred when staff did not assess, monitor and treat" the resident in a timely manner "when signs and symptoms indicated a head injury."

The home cited is Augustana Health Care Center, located at 930 W. 16th Street in Hastings.

The man fell March 8 and sustained a "large hematoma, approximately four centimeters by three centimeters, on his left forehead," the report states.

The complaints office determined that the home did not follow "standards of practice for ongoing post fall examinations/assessments, including vital signs and neurological assessments."

After the man fell, he was examined 30 minutes later. No vital signs or neurological tests were then done for at least three hours.

Approximately four hours after the fall, the man's vital signs were not stable and he was unresponsive. He was transferred to the hospital at that point and died March 10.

His death certificate attributes the cause of death to a "massive intracranial hemorrhage."

A nurse practitioner and a physician were interviewed in the matter and both said that even if the home had followed standard practices, the man would have likely still died due to his "very complex medical diagnoses, which included severe thrombocytopenia (a disorder in which there is an abnormally low amount of platelets, which are parts of the blood that help blood to clot)."

The home has taken corrective action and employees have been re-educated.

Disclipinary action was taken against the nurse who cared for the man, according to the report.

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