Failure to Provide Regularly Scheduled Bathing
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that a resident was offered and provided regularly scheduled bathing as required. The resident reported that staff often missed their scheduled showers and, if they declined a shower at the offered time, staff did not return to offer it again later. The resident stated that they were only bathed about once a week, despite needing more frequent bathing due to sweating and personal preference. The resident also indicated a preference for showers in the afternoon or evening, which was not accommodated. A review of the resident's medical record showed that bathing was only documented as offered four times in the previous 30 days, with only two instances where bathing was actually provided. There was no documentation to support that bathing was offered at least twice weekly as required. The DON confirmed that showers should be offered at least twice weekly and that all offerings should be documented, but was unable to provide additional documentation to show compliance. Facility policy stated that residents should receive necessary assistance to maintain personal hygiene, but there was no evidence this was consistently done for the resident in question.