Failure to Timely Respond to Resident Call Lights
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to consistently answer resident call lights within the 15-minute timeframe established by its own policy, as confirmed by call light logs, resident interviews, and staff statements. Four residents, all with varying degrees of physical and/or cognitive impairment and requiring significant assistance with activities of daily living, reported that their call lights were not answered promptly. Documentation showed multiple instances where response times ranged from 17 minutes to over two hours. Residents were able to verify these delays by referencing clocks in their rooms, and their statements were corroborated by the facility's call light logs. Staff interviews further confirmed that call lights were often not answered within the expected timeframe, with staff attributing the delays to low staffing levels. The facility's policy, dated March 2021, requires that call lights be answered within 15 minutes to meet residents' needs in an appropriate time frame. The Administrator and DON acknowledged that the facility's expectation is a 15-minute response time, but the documented delays and staff admissions indicate this standard was not consistently met for the residents involved.