Signature Healthcare of Muncie: Racial Slur Abuse - IN
The aide, identified in inspection records only as CNA 2, directed the outburst at a resident referred to as Resident N during what had started as a routine hallway dispute. By the time it was over, the aide had used a slur that inspectors recorded verbatim, threatened physical violence, and told the resident he couldn't get his own medication before adding: "Oh, wait. You can't."
CNA 2 was not available for interview during the inspection.
The incident began when Resident N got into a shouting match in the hallway with another resident. A QMA, identified as QMA 4, heard the commotion from a nearby room and stepped into the hallway. By her account, Resident N's shouting had made the other resident's daughter cry. CNA 2 tried to get Resident N to return to his room. Resident N refused.
That's when CNA 2 started yelling and cussing. He called Resident N a "B* a nig*" and told him he was going to beat his ass. Then came the crack about the medication: "Get up and get your own damn medicine. Oh, wait. You can't."
Resident N had a history of disagreements with staff over his medications. He sometimes believed he hadn't received them when he had. On this occasion, a nurse, LPN 8, had already assured him his medication had been given. The dispute over the medication was over. What CNA 2 did next had nothing to do with resolving anything.
QMA 4 and another aide, CNA 3, stepped in and tried to move Resident N away from the situation. He planted his feet on the floor and wouldn't budge. Meanwhile, QMA 4 watched CNA 2 walk away talking to himself, still cussing, saying things like "This place don't want to mess with me." LPN 8 told QMA 4 to call the Director of Nursing and report what had happened.
When inspectors interviewed Resident N the following afternoon, September 17, he described CNA 2 as rude and said there was no reason for the yelling. "CNA 2 would not let Resident N get two words in," the inspection report states. "He was very rude for no reason." Resident N told inspectors he had no problems with other staff, that he had returned to his normal routine, and that he was not adversely affected by the incident.
What the report documents is a staff member who, in the middle of a care interaction, chose to deploy one of the most degrading slurs in the English language against a person in his care, a person who could not simply get up and leave, a person who depended on that same staff member and others like him for basic daily needs. The mockery of that dependence, "Oh, wait. You can't," was not an accident or a heat-of-the-moment slip. It was a targeted statement about Resident N's physical limitations, delivered as a taunt.
The facility's own abuse policy, provided to inspectors by the Director of Nursing during the survey, defines verbal abuse as "use of any oral, written or gestured language that includes any threat, or any frightening, disparaging or derogatory language, to residents or their families, or within their hearing distance, regardless of age, ability to comprehend, or disability." The policy states the organization's intention is to prevent abuse and ensure that all alleged violations are investigated and reported immediately to the facility administrator and state survey agency.
The inspection record does not indicate whether CNA 2 was terminated, suspended, or referred to law enforcement. It does not say whether he was ever interviewed by the facility in connection with the incident. He was not available when federal inspectors came looking.
The citation carries a severity level of "minimal harm or potential for actual harm" and notes that few residents were affected. That classification reflects the regulatory framework inspectors apply, not a judgment about what it means to be called a racial slur by someone who is supposed to be providing you care, while you are sitting in a wheelchair unable to move yourself out of the situation.
Inspectors cited the facility under federal tag F600, which covers the right of residents to be free from abuse. The deficient practice was listed as corrected on August 24, 2025, more than three weeks before the inspection was completed on September 17. The facility's corrective plan included educating staff on the abuse policy, interviewing and assessing other residents for signs of abuse, completing an interdisciplinary team review of the incident, and planning quality assurance activities to prevent recurrence.
Staff education. An interdisciplinary review. Quality assurance planning. These are the institutional responses, the paperwork machinery that gets set in motion after something like this happens. They are also, in a facility that already had a written policy explicitly prohibiting exactly what CNA 2 did, an acknowledgment that the policy alone was not enough to stop it.
Resident N told inspectors he was not adversely affected. He had returned to his routine. He had no problems with other staff. He said what he experienced, and then he said he was fine, and inspectors recorded both things and moved on.
What the record cannot show is what it cost Resident N to sit in that hallway while a man employed to care for him called him a slur and threatened to beat him, in front of other staff, in front of another resident's family member, and then walked away muttering that "this place don't want to mess with me." What it cost him to plant his feet and refuse to be moved, which was the only form of resistance available to him. What it cost him to tell a stranger with a clipboard, the following afternoon, that he was not adversely affected.
He said he was fine. The inspection report says minimal harm. CNA 2 was not available for interview.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Signature Healthcare of Muncie from 2025-09-17 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: This article is based on inspection data downloaded directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via Medicare.gov. CMS releases inspection reports in bulk; we publish the findings as documented by state surveyors in the official Form CMS-2567 Statement of Deficiencies.
Plan of correction: The CMS report we receive does not include the facility's plan of correction. Facilities submit plans of correction separately to state survey agencies and those responses may not be reflected in CMS data at the time of publication. The absence of a plan of correction in our data does not mean one was not filed. Readers who want information about corrective steps taken are encouraged to contact the facility directly or their state survey agency.
Corrections may have occurred: Inspection reports reflect conditions observed on the date of the survey. Facilities may have implemented corrections, staffing changes, additional training, or other remediation since the report was issued. We report what CMS provides and encourage readers to seek current information from the facility.
Editorial process: Inspection findings are extracted from CMS source documents and synthesized using AI, reviewed for factual accuracy against the original report by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: September 18, 2026 · Our methodology
SIGNATURE HEALTHCARE OF MUNCIE in MUNCIE, IN was cited for abuse-related violations during a health inspection on September 17, 2025.
You can't." CNA 2 was not available for interview during the inspection.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.