Failure to Provide Private Telephone Access
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide reasonable access to a telephone in an area where calls could be made without being overheard for one resident. The resident, who was moderately cognitively impaired and had diagnoses including depression, hypertension, and heart failure, became upset when he was unable to use the phone because a nurse was already using it. The resident reported that an LPN would not allow him to use the phone at the nurse's station, and the LPN confirmed that she asked the resident to finish his call due to other residents waiting and the need to make important nursing calls. The Director of Nursing acknowledged that phones for resident use were located at the nurse's stations, which were also used by staff for work-related calls, and stated that the facility should have phones available for residents to use. The facility's policy documented that residents have the right to use a phone in privacy.