Failure to Disinfect Shared Blood Pressure Cuff Between Uses
Penalty
Summary
Staff failed to disinfect a shared blood pressure cuff before and after use during medication administration for two residents. During medication administration, a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) was observed taking the blood pressure of one resident using an automatic blood pressure machine with a Velcro-style cuff without disinfecting it prior to use. After use, the LVN placed the machine and cuff back into its case and returned it to the medication cart without cleaning or disinfecting it. Shortly after, the same LVN used the same blood pressure machine and cuff to take another resident's blood pressure, again without disinfecting the cuff before or after use. The LVN acknowledged during an interview that she did not clean or disinfect the blood pressure cuff before or after taking blood pressures for both residents, despite being required to do so by facility policy. The facility's policy, revised in August 2017, states that all resident-contact surfaces, including blood pressure cuffs and tubing, must be cleaned and disinfected after each use.