Failure to Assist Resident with Hearing Aid Placement
Penalty
Summary
A deficiency was identified when a resident with a documented hearing deficit and a care plan requiring daily assistance with hearing aid placement was repeatedly observed without hearing aids in place. On multiple occasions, the resident indicated difficulty hearing and expressed the need for her hearing aids. Despite these observations, there was no documentation that the resident had refused to wear the hearing aids, and the Director of Nursing confirmed that such documentation could not be found. The resident's care plan specified daily assistance with hearing aid placement and removal at bedtime, as well as ensuring the devices were in working order. The resident was assessed as cognitively intact and had diagnoses including schizophrenia, hypertension, anxiety, age-related physical debility, and vascular dementia. The facility's policy required assistance with functional communication systems as part of activities of daily living (ADLs), but the required support for hearing aid use was not provided or documented as refused.