Failure to Disinfect Shared Blood Glucose Monitor Between Resident Uses
Penalty
Summary
Facility staff failed to adhere to infection prevention and control standards regarding the use of multi-resident medical equipment. During a medication administration observation, a nurse used a blood glucose monitor (BGM) to obtain a blood glucose level for a resident and then placed the BGM back into the medication cart with other clean equipment without cleaning or disinfecting it. The nurse acknowledged forgetting to clean the BGM after use, and both the unit manager and infection preventionist confirmed that facility policy requires all shared equipment, including BGMs, to be cleaned and disinfected between each resident use. The facility's policy on disinfecting shared resident equipment specifies that all such equipment must be cleaned and disinfected routinely, using methods appropriate for the equipment and type of contamination. Despite this policy, the observed nurse did not follow the required procedure after using the BGM, resulting in a failure to prevent potential transmission of communicable diseases and infections. This deficiency was identified for one resident out of a sample of 25 during the survey.