Failure to Maintain Window Blinds in Resident Rooms
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain window blinds in good condition in five resident rooms on the first floor, as observed during a survey. Multiple rooms were found with missing blind slats, resulting in significant gaps that exposed residents to public view and allowed excess heat into the rooms. Specific observations included rooms with up to 22 missing slats, creating large open areas, and other rooms with varying numbers of missing slats, some of which were found on the floor. These deficiencies were directly observed by surveyors during their walkthrough of the facility. Interviews with staff revealed inconsistencies in the reporting and follow-up of maintenance issues. Certified Nursing Assistants and Registered Nurses indicated that they were expected to log broken items in a maintenance book, but some staff had not noticed or reported the missing blinds, even when aware of the issue for several weeks. The Maintenance Director confirmed that no recent maintenance requests for blinds had been received, and upon inspection, acknowledged the concerns with the missing slats. The Director of Nursing and the Administrator described the expected process for reporting and addressing maintenance issues, but the observations indicated that this process was not consistently followed, leading to the ongoing deficiency.