Failure to Screen and Offer Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccines
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to properly screen, educate, and offer influenza and pneumococcal vaccines to residents as required by policy and CDC/ACIP recommendations. Specifically, five residents were not screened for or offered the influenza vaccine during influenza season, nor were they screened for or offered the pneumococcal vaccine upon admission. In one case, a resident who had provided consent for the pneumococcal vaccine did not receive it. Documentation was lacking for all five residents regarding screening, education, or administration of either vaccine. Interviews with the Infection Preventionist confirmed that there was no documentation to support that these residents had been screened for, educated on, or offered the required vaccines. The facility's own policies state that all residents should be offered the influenza vaccine from October through March and the pneumococcal vaccine upon admission, unless contraindicated or already immunized. These failures were identified through record review and staff interviews, indicating a breakdown in the facility's immunization practices for new admissions and during the influenza season.