Failure to Consistently Provide Required Evening Snacks
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to consistently provide evening snacks to residents, as required by federal regulations and its own policy. Scheduled mealtimes in multiple nursing unit areas resulted in more than 14 hours elapsing between the evening meal and breakfast the following day. Specifically, the intervals ranged from 14 hours and 15 minutes to 14 hours and 30 minutes, exceeding the 14-hour maximum unless a nourishing snack is provided at bedtime or a resident group agrees to a longer interval. During a resident council interview, four out of eight residents reported that snacks were not consistently offered in the evenings. One resident stated that snacks were only occasionally offered, while three others indicated they were not offered snacks at all. These resident accounts were corroborated by the lack of documentation showing that snacks were consistently provided during the evening hours. The Nursing Home Administrator confirmed that it is the facility's policy to offer nourishing snacks in the evening but was unable to provide evidence that this was being done consistently. The deficiency was identified through a combination of policy review, scheduled mealtime analysis, and resident and staff interviews.
Plan Of Correction
Resident#28, #32, #69, and 90 are currently being offered HS snacks. To identify like residents that have the potential to be affected, an audit was completed of current residents to ensure that snacks are being offered. To prevent this from recurring, the DON/designee will educate the nursing staff on offering HS snacks to the residents. To monitor and maintain ongoing compliance, the DON/designee will audit 5 residents weekly for 4 weeks, then monthly for 2 months, to ensure that snacks are being offered by the nursing staff. Results will be reported to QAPI for recommendations and follow-up.