Failure to Maintain Hand Hygiene and Infection Control Practices
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to implement and maintain proper infection control practices when a CNA and an LVN did not perform hand hygiene between resident care and before entering or exiting resident rooms. Observations revealed that two out of four resident rooms lacked hand sanitizing gel in the dispensers, and there were no hand sanitizing gel dispensers in the hallways due to ongoing renovations. Both the CNA and LVN admitted to not performing hand hygiene, citing empty dispensers as the reason, but acknowledged the importance of hand hygiene in preventing the spread of infection. Interviews with the Infection Prevention Nurse and the Director of Nursing confirmed that staff were educated on the importance of hand hygiene and the facility's policy required hand hygiene before and after resident care, as well as before entering and after exiting resident rooms. The Infection Prevention Nurse was aware of the lack of hand sanitizing gel in some rooms due to a back order and stated that staff were instructed to wash their hands at the nurses' station. The facility's policy emphasized that hand hygiene products and supplies should be readily accessible to encourage compliance.