Failure to Label and Date Food in Resident Refrigerator
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain safe and sanitary storage of food items in a resident's personal refrigerator, as required by facility policy. Specifically, a plastic bag containing sliced cheese and sandwich meat in the refrigerator of a resident with multiple medical conditions, including PVD, disorganized schizophrenia, and acute ischemic heart disease, was found to be unlabeled and undated during multiple observations. The facility's policy requires that all food stored in residents' room refrigerators be labeled with a date, and that staff inspect these refrigerators weekly to ensure no expired foods are present and cleanliness is maintained. Interviews with staff revealed confusion regarding responsibility for checking personal refrigerators, with housekeeping staff indicating they were responsible for temperature checks and nursing staff for monitoring expired foods. However, nurse aides stated they were not responsible for these checks. The Administrator acknowledged purchasing food for the resident and failing to label or date the items. The DON confirmed that staff had been in-serviced to ensure foods brought in by family or visitors were labeled and dated, but the deficiency persisted, as evidenced by the continued presence of unlabeled and undated food items in the resident's refrigerator.