Shower Rooms Not Maintained at Comfortable Temperatures
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors found that the facility failed to maintain comfortable temperatures in all resident shower rooms, as required by facility policy, which states that temperatures should be kept between 71 and 81 degrees Fahrenheit. During a facility tour, the Maintenance Director measured the ambient temperature in two shower rooms used by residents and found them to be 64.8°F and 55.9°F, both below the required range. Resident Council meeting minutes from previous months documented complaints about the shower rooms being too cold, and these complaints were confirmed by the Assistant Director of Nursing. Interviews with four cognitively intact residents who required assistance with bathing revealed that they experienced the shower rooms as cold, chilly, or ice cold. These residents had various medical conditions, including COPD, cerebral infarction, metabolic encephalopathy, obesity, muscle wasting, polyneuropathy, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and all required substantial to maximal assistance with bathing. The deficiency was identified as affecting these four residents and had the potential to affect all residents who did not have personal showers in their rooms.