Failure to Perform Hand Hygiene During Medication Administration
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure proper hand hygiene was performed during medication administration for five residents. Observations revealed that trained medication assistants and a registered nurse did not sanitize their hands before or after administering medications, despite handling residents, touching personal items in resident rooms, and preparing medications. For example, one medication assistant assisted a resident to stand, touched the resident's fridge, and administered medications without hand sanitization before or after the process. Another medication assistant and a registered nurse also failed to perform hand hygiene before entering resident rooms or after administering medications. Interviews with residents and staff confirmed that hand hygiene was not consistently practiced during medication passes. One resident reported rarely seeing staff sanitize their hands before or after giving medications. Both a registered nurse and a medication assistant acknowledged that hand sanitizer should be used before and after medication administration. The interim director of nursing also stated that hands should be sanitized between medication passes. Facility policy directs staff to perform hand hygiene before and after contact with residents and after contact with objects in resident rooms.