What's the most serious issue.?
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A patient was pronounced dead at 1800 (6:00 PM).
During a routine chart audit, the nurse’s documentation shows an entry timestamped 2200 (10:00 PM) stating:
“Patient alert and oriented, resting comfortably in bed. Respirations even and unlabored. No acute distress noted.”
The nurse explains that the note was entered late and was intended to describe an assessment performed earlier in the shift. However, the documentation does not identify the entry as a late entry or indicate the actual time the assessment occurred.
The case is now under formal review.
🔥 Which issue is the MOST serious concern with this documentation?
A. The nurse failed to document a complete head-to-toe assessment.
B. The nurse used vague terminology such as “resting comfortably.”
C. The medical record contains documentation that appears to describe a living patient four hours after the documented time of death.
D. The nurse should have deleted the original entry and rewritten the entire nursing note.