Failure to Provide Private Resident Council Meetings
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that residents were offered a private space for their resident council meetings, as required by regulations. During a resident group meeting, it was revealed that the meetings were held in the main dining room where staff and other residents could overhear the discussions. This setting discouraged some residents from voicing their concerns, as they preferred not to use their names when discussing issues. The president of the resident council confirmed that meetings were always conducted with facility staff and other residents present, and the residents were not aware that they could request private meetings. Interviews with the Activities Director and the Director of Nursing confirmed that the facility was always invited to the group meetings, but they acknowledged that the meetings were not held privately. The facility's policy on resident council meetings, which was reviewed, stated that space, privacy, and support should be provided for these meetings. However, the facility did not adhere to this policy, resulting in a deficiency in meeting the residents' rights to organize and participate in private resident groups.
Plan Of Correction
1. Residents will be provided with a space to conduct Resident Council in a private setting. 2. Resident council will be held in C Solarium to ensure the residents have a private area to conduct meetings. 3. The Nursing Home Administrator/designee will re-educate the Activities Department to provide a private area to hold the resident council meetings in. 4. The Nursing Home Administrator/designee will audit monthly x2 resident council minutes to ensure resident council is being held in a private setting. 5. Monitoring and audits will be submitted to the Quality Assurance Performance Improvement Committee.