Failure to Properly Label Enteral Feeding Supplies for Residents with Feeding Tubes
Penalty
Summary
Staff failed to provide proper care and services for residents with enteral feedings by not ensuring that enteral feeding products, syringes, and flush solutions were correctly labeled. For one resident with a history of gastrostomy, dementia, cerebral infarction, and dysphagia, observations revealed that the enteral feeding and water bottle were hung without any labeling for rate, date, resident name, time, or nurse initials. Additionally, a syringe was found undated and opened, and at one point, the feeding and water bottle were labeled with the wrong resident's name. The responsible LPN confirmed these labeling errors during interviews. For another resident with gastrostomy status, dysphagia, and Parkinson's, the enteral feeding and water bottle were also not properly labeled, with only the resident's last name present. The RN confirmed that the enteral syringe should be labeled with the nurse's initials, date, and changed every 24 hours, which was not done. The DON stated that proper labeling should include date, rate, time, nurse initials, and resident name, which was not observed in these cases.