Failure to Maintain Resident Dignity During Mealtime Assistance
Penalty
Summary
A deficiency was identified when a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) assisted a resident with breakfast while standing over the resident, rather than sitting at eye level as required by facility policy. The resident involved had a history of pneumonia, dementia, and major depressive disorder, and was assessed as having severely impaired cognition and requiring total assistance with all activities of daily living. During the observation, the resident was in bed with the head elevated, and the CNA admitted to forgetting to get a chair, acknowledging that staff should be at eye level to respect the resident's dignity during mealtime assistance. Interviews with the Registered Nurse (RN) and Director of Nursing (DON) confirmed that staff are expected to sit at eye level when assisting residents with eating, both for dignity and safety reasons. Facility policies reviewed also specified that residents should be assisted with meals in a manner that maintains their dignity, explicitly stating that staff should not stand over residents while feeding them. The failure to follow these procedures resulted in care that did not maintain the resident's dignity.