Failure to Honor Resident Choice for Personal Food Items
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to honor resident choices regarding access to personal food items stored in the resident fridge for two sampled residents. One resident reported that food brought in by her son was lost or discarded by the facility. Upon inspection, several of her meals were found in the resident food fridge, properly labeled and dated. However, when the resident requested a specific meal, staff initially told her it was missing. The meal was later found and offered to her, but she refused it at that time. This sequence of events demonstrates a failure to ensure timely and reliable access to personal food items as requested by the resident. Another resident experienced difficulty accessing personally purchased flavored coffee creamer stored in the resident food fridge. The resident expressed that nursing staff were too busy to retrieve the creamer from the kitchen and requested that it be stored in a more accessible location. Staff suggested purchasing individual creamers to keep in his room, but the resident stated these were too expensive. Staff confirmed that the creamer should be stored in the resident food fridge and delivered upon request, but the resident's concerns about access were not resolved. These incidents show the facility did not consistently support or facilitate resident self-determination and choice regarding personal food items.