The nurse, identified in records as S6LPN, logged in the facility's medication system that she had restarted Resident #3's nutritional feeding at 11:08 AM on December 17. But when inspectors arrived at 1:00 PM, they found the feeding pump switched off and the tubing disconnected from the patient's stomach port.
Resident #3 receives liquid nutrition through a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube, a surgically placed device that delivers food directly into the stomach. The patient was ordered to receive Isosource 1.5 nutritional supplement at 58 milliliters per hour for 21 hours daily, from noon until 9:00 AM.
The nurse had stopped the feeding earlier that morning after finding 315 milliliters of gastric residual during a routine check, according to her notes written at 12:17 PM. High residual volumes can indicate digestion problems and require feeding to be paused for safety.
But S6LPN's medication audit report showed she had documented restarting the feeding nearly three hours earlier, at 11:08 AM.
When inspectors interviewed the nurse at 2:38 PM, she admitted the feeding remained stopped due to the high residual. She acknowledged that her documentation claiming she had restarted the feeding at 11:08 AM was false and "should not have been" recorded.
The feeding pump stayed disconnected until 2:51 PM, when inspectors watched S6LPN perform another residual check. She removed 50 milliliters this time and finally reconnected the feeding at 3:08 PM.
The facility's policy requires staff to document the date, time and residual amount for each gastric check. S6LPN failed to record her 2:51 PM residual check or the actual 3:08 PM feeding restart time in the patient's medical record.
Her job description specifically lists maintaining accurate documentation of nursing care as a primary responsibility.
The documentation failures meant other staff had no accurate record of when the patient's nutrition was actually interrupted or resumed. Resident #3 went without prescribed nutrition for at least four hours longer than the medical record indicated.
Director of Nursing S3 confirmed during a December 22 interview that the nurse should have accurately documented both the feeding times and residual check results, including dates, times and amounts in the patient's medical record.
The false documentation violated federal requirements that nursing homes maintain medical records according to accepted professional standards. The violation was classified as causing minimal harm with few residents affected.
Lafon Nursing Facility operates on Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans East. The inspection was conducted in response to a complaint, though the nature of the original complaint was not specified in the report.
The facility has 14 days from receiving the inspection report to submit a plan of correction to continue participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Accurate documentation of tube feeding is critical for patient safety. Interruptions in nutrition can affect blood sugar levels, medication absorption and overall health, particularly for residents who depend entirely on tube feeding for sustenance.
The resident's feeding schedule called for nearly continuous nutrition, running 21 hours daily with only a three-hour break each morning. Any unplanned interruption extends the period without nutrition beyond what physicians intended.
S6LPN's admission that she falsely recorded the feeding restart raises questions about the reliability of other documentation at the facility. The inspection focused on record accuracy for three residents, finding problems with one.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Lafon Nursing Facility of the Holy Family from 2025-12-22 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.