Failure to Honor Resident's Rights to Visitor Choice and Responsible Party
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to honor a resident's right to receive visitors of her choice and to designate her own responsible party. The resident, who had diagnoses including type 2 diabetes mellitus, end stage renal disease, and required dialysis, was cognitively intact and capable of making her own decisions. Despite multiple documented requests from the resident to restrict visits from certain individuals and to change her responsible party to another person, these requests were not acted upon by facility staff. Documentation in the resident's records, including social services notes and interdisciplinary team notes, showed that the resident repeatedly expressed her desire not to have visits from specific visitors and to have a different responsible party involved in her care. The resident also communicated her wishes directly to staff members, including certified nursing assistants and social services staff, and requested that her medical records be updated to reflect these changes. However, the facility did not update the records or enforce the resident's preferences, resulting in unwanted visits and continued involvement of the previously designated responsible party. During interviews and observations, the resident stated she felt unsafe and uncomfortable due to the facility's failure to respect her choices regarding visitors and responsible party. Staff confirmed that the resident had the capacity to make these decisions and that her requests should have been honored. The facility's own policy required staff to respect residents' rights to self-determination and to document personal preferences, but these procedures were not followed in this case.