Hooverwood: Nurse Diverted Resident's Narcotics - IN
The narcotic count sheets told a different story.
According to records reviewed during a December 2025 complaint inspection at Hooverwood, a registered nurse identified in the report as RN 6 had signed out Norco tablets for the resident, referred to as Resident C, on at least five separate occasions across four days in November. The sign-outs happened in the morning, around 8:00 a.m., and again after lunch. One tablet at a time. Exactly when Resident C said she never took them.
None of those withdrawals were documented in the electronic medication administration record.
At Hooverwood, as at every nursing facility, the MAR is the definitive record of what a resident received. A nurse signs out a narcotic on the count sheet, then documents the administration in the MAR. If it isn't in the MAR, the medication wasn't given to the resident. RN 5, a colleague, put it plainly during an interview on December 22: she would not sign out a narcotic for a resident unless that resident had requested it. If a resident refused, you chart the refusal. You don't sign out the pill and leave no record.
RN 6 left no record.
The Director of Nursing described Resident C during a December 19 interview as a good historian, completely alert and oriented. The unit manager said the same thing thirty minutes later: good memory, good cognitive function. Resident C had identified RN 6 as the nurse assigned to her on the dates the narcotics went missing.
When inspectors interviewed Resident C directly on December 22, her account was consistent and detailed. She had never received narcotic pain medications during the day. She took them at night, two tablets at a time, to manage pain well enough to rest. She had never taken a single tablet. The pattern of sign-outs on the narcotic sheet, one tablet around breakfast and one after lunch, matched nothing about how she actually used the medication.
The facility terminated RN 6.
Hooverwood also audited all narcotic count sheets across the facility, interviewed residents, re-educated nursing staff, and brought in the pharmacy to conduct a house-wide narcotic audit. The Director of Nursing told inspectors those corrective steps were completed by December 17, five days before the inspection concluded.
Federal inspectors cited the facility under F0602, which covers misappropriation of resident property. The citation was rated at minimal harm or potential for actual harm, affecting few residents. That designation reflects the regulatory framework's assessment of physical injury, not the nature of what occurred. A nurse repeatedly removed a controlled substance prescribed for a resident's pain and did not give it to her.
Resident C's account never wavered. She knew what she took, when she took it, and how much. She had spent a career as a registered nurse. She understood exactly what the count sheet was supposed to mean and exactly what it meant when the medication she never received kept disappearing from it, one tablet at a time, on the days she was assigned to RN 6.
She asked for her medication at night. It helped her rest.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Hooverwood from 2025-12-22 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: June 19, 2026 · Our methodology
HOOVERWOOD in INDIANAPOLIS, IN was cited for violations during a health inspection on December 22, 2025.
The narcotic count sheets told a different story.
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.