Failure to Maintain Resident Dignity and Privacy
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide care and services in a manner respectful of each resident's personal dignity, as evidenced by the situation involving a resident with Parkinson's disease. This resident, who is cognitively intact and dependent on staff for assistance with personal care, was observed lying in bed with his pants pulled down to his thighs and his stomach exposed. The privacy curtains were not drawn, leaving the resident visible from the hallway. This situation persisted for twenty minutes while other residents and staff walked past the room. The resident expressed feelings of anger and frustration, describing himself as feeling like a piece of furniture due to the lack of assistance from the staff. The Director of Nursing confirmed that the resident should not have been left in such a state without privacy curtains drawn and acknowledged the facility's responsibility to ensure residents receive care that promotes their dignity and respect. Additionally, the resident's fingernails were observed to be dirty, with a yellow-orange film and debris under the tips, indicating a lack of attention to personal hygiene needs. This incident highlights a failure in maintaining the resident's dignity and respect, as well as a lapse in providing necessary personal care.
Plan Of Correction
1. Facility nursing staff provided nail care to Resident 3. 2. DON/designee to perform an audit of cognitively intact residents to determine if they feel as if they are treated with respect and dignity and have sufficient nail care performed to promote dignity. 3. ADON/educator/designee to provide education to staff on resident rights and dignity, on not leaving residents exposed in view of others, and to include nail care. 4. Department Heads/designee to perform observation/interview audits for 10 residents 5X per week X 2 weeks then 3X per week X 2 weeks, then weekly X 2 weeks to ensure they feel treated with dignity and respect, that no residents were left exposed in view of others, and that nail care has been performed. 5. Audit findings to be reported and reviewed at facility QAPI monthly X 3 to evaluate process improvement.