Abuse&Reporting
This is the first thing a CNA should do when they suspect abuse, neglect, exploitation, or mistreatment.
What is report it immediately to your charge nurse, DON or Administrator.
This should happen before entering a resident room or beginning care.
What is knock, greet the resident, introduce yourself, and explain what you are doing
These should be cleaned before gloves go on and after gloves come off.
What are your hands?
Hand hygiene is one of the easiest infection-control wins.
Opened refrigerated food and beverages need this.
What is a date?
If it is opened, it needs a date.
When staff are pushing a resident outside the room, these should be applied when required by the care plan and equipment.
What are wheelchair foot pedals?
Do not rely on the resident to hold their feet up.
This should never be charted if it was not actually completed.
What is resident care?
Accurate documentation protects the resident and the staff member. Do not chart before cares are given, and do not chart if the resident is out of the building. This just happened in Meadowlark.
This phrase means staff do not walk past unsafe care, disrespect, broken equipment, or resident concerns.
What is see something, say something.
This right means residents should be treated as adults and given choices when possible.
What is dignity
This must happen when moving from a dirty task to a clean task.
What is change gloves and perform hand hygiene?
Gloves do not replace hand hygiene.
These must be taken and documented for required meals.
What are meal temperatures?
Meal temps support food safety and quality
This should be followed before transfers, positioning, mobility, toileting, and safety interventions.
What is the resident care plan?
Do not invent a new transfer method, or make up an intervention. This is considered abuse and a reportable offense.
This must be reported to the nurse in addition to charting when it is outside the resident’s normal baseline.
What is a change in condition?
Examples: pain, weakness, confusion, breathing change, poor intake, skin concern, fall/near fall.
This type of mistreatment can include yelling, threatening, humiliating, mocking, or speaking harshly to a resident.
What is verbal or emotional/mental abuse
This is the customer-service response when a family or resident is upset: listen, acknowledge, tell what you can do, and follow through.
What is service recovery.
Teaching Point: In healthcare, customer service is not pretending everything is fine; it is responding respectfully when it is not.
These supplies should not be placed on floors, trash bags, dirty chairs, or contaminated surfaces.
What are respiratory supplies such as oxygen tubing, nasal cannulas, nebulizer masks, and related equipment?
Treat respiratory supplies like clean-care equipment.
Room trays must be transported this way to protect food and drinks from contamination and keep hot food hot and cold food cold.
What is covered?
Pain, poor fit, missing pedals, unsafe equipment, or functional changes should be handled this way.
What is report to the nurse/supervisor for follow-up?
Equipment problems become resident safety problems.
This is the safest answer when you are unsure about a policy, care plan, diet, transfer method, or resident change.
What is ask before guessing?
Questions are safer than shortcuts
This happens when a resident does not receive needed care, supervision, help, food, fluids, hygiene, or protection from harm.
What is neglect
This is the wrong answer when a resident needs help and you are not assigned to that resident.
What is “That is not my resident”?
A better answer: “I will help or find the right person.”
This is the infection-control problem when one hand has a trash bag and the other has a clean cannula.
What is cross-contamination?
Separate clean and dirty items during transport and care.
Before serving a meal, the CNA/cook must verify these resident-specific items.
What are diet order, texture, liquid consistency, allergies, substitutions, and assistance needs?
Call light, water within plan, safe position, needed items in reach, and clean environment are part of this quick check before leaving the room.
What is the 3-minute rule / safety-comfort check?
Do one more look before walking away.
In a Kansas nursing home, abuse/neglect/exploitation allegations involve facility reporting and investigation, with KDADS/KDHE state oversight depending on the facility type.
What is the reporting system for Kansas adult care home concerns?
Kansas adult care home concerns can be reported through this state agency hotline: 800-842-0078.
What is the KDADS Complaint Hotline
This simple test asks whether you would be comfortable if the resident’s family, DON, or Administrator watched your choice.
What is the Topside Test?
If you would not defend it tomorrow, do not do it today.
This is what to do when tubing, bags, or respiratory equipment are missing, soiled, or not stored properly.
What is change it if appropriate and report it to the nurse/supervisor?
Do not leave the next person to discover it
Poor intake, refusal, coughing, choking concern, nausea/vomiting, or a swallowing change should be handled this way.
What is report promptly to the nurse and document as required?
Meal service is also a resident-observed behavior.
This type of shortcut is not acceptable: changing a lift, transfer, diet, medication routine, or care-plan intervention because it seems faster.
What is working outside the care plan/scope?
Ask the nurse before guessing.
This improvement habit asks every employee, especially new staff, to name one resident preference, safety concern, care issue, or coworker strength they noticed.
What is “What did you notice?”
The goal is to build a culture of noticing, owning, reporting, and following through.