Question

lets review what you have learned so far.

while working to repair a leaky faucet in a persons room at a long-term care facility, sam, an employee in the maintenance department, sees a certified nursing assistant (cna) hit a person for whom she is caring. sam thinks he should probably report the abuse but is not sure. what should he do?

• realize that because he is not a member of the nursing staff and does not directly take care of people, he does not have to report what he saw
• talk to the cna to find out why she hit the person
• tell a co-worker what happened and ask if he should report it or not
• follow the facility policy and procedure on how to report the abuse and report it right away

Explanation:

🆕 New Concept Discovered: Mandated Reporting in Healthcare
All facility staff must report suspected abuse immediately.

Step 1: Identify the core issue

The scenario describes an incident where an employee (Sam) witnesses physical abuse (a CNA hitting a resident) in a long-term care facility. Physical abuse of vulnerable residents is a serious violation of safety, ethics, and law.

Step 2: Evaluate the responsibilities of facility staff

In healthcare and long-term care facilities, all employees—regardless of their specific department (including maintenance, dietary, or administrative staff)—have a legal and ethical duty to protect residents from harm. This is often referred to as mandated reporting.

• Option 1 is incorrect: Being in the maintenance department does not excuse an employee from the duty to report witnessed abuse.
• Option 2 is incorrect: Confronting the abuser directly is unsafe, unprofessional, and delays the necessary protection of the resident.
• Option 3 is incorrect: Discussing the event with a co-worker to decide whether to report delays action and does not satisfy the official reporting requirement.

Step 3: Determine the correct action

The standard protocol for any staff member who witnesses or suspects abuse is to immediately report it following the established guidelines of the facility to ensure resident safety and initiate an official investigation.

Answer:

• Follow the facility policy and procedure on how to report the abuse and report it right away