Failure to Ensure Resident Privacy and Dignity During Care
Penalty
Summary
A deficiency occurred when a certified nursing assistant (CNA) provided care to a resident without ensuring privacy. During the morning care, the CNA changed the resident in a shared room without drawing the privacy curtain, leaving the resident exposed to both another resident who was ambulating in the room and a surveyor who was present. The resident's call light was also found on the floor after the CNA left the room, making it inaccessible to the resident. The nurse on duty acknowledged that the privacy curtain was not used and stated that it was not functioning properly, but could not specify how long it had been out of order. The resident involved was legally blind and later expressed dissatisfaction with being exposed during care. The facility's policy requires staff to maintain resident privacy and dignity during care, but this protocol was not followed in this instance. The administrator was unaware of the incident at the time it occurred. The failure to use the privacy curtain and ensure the call light was accessible directly led to the resident's lack of privacy and dignity during personal care.