False charting is a critical issue in every nursing home case. Sometimes, it is well-hidden and can be found only after hours of close examination of the chart. Other times, it is readily apparent:
You can see the that nurse on duty for the third shift (6 pm – 6 am) charted that the resident was alert, had normal skin tone, normal heart rhythm, and normal respirations. The problem with this is the notes that the nurse on the shift before wrote:
The notes say: 5:20 pm: Resident expired, 0 pulse, 0 respirations 5:50 pm: Mitchell Hughes (funeral home) here for resident. The reason that this is so important in nursing home abuse and neglect cases is that the nursing home staff will rely on their chart to show that adequate care was provided, and when the chart can be shown to be false, that argument is undermined, as is the credibility of the witnesses involved in the false chart entries.