Failure to Ensure Proper PPE Use During Enhanced Barrier Precautions
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for a resident on Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP). During observation, signage indicating EBP was present on the resident's door, and the resident was receiving tube feeding. An LPN entered the resident's room, wearing gloves but did not don a gown as required by the facility's EBP policy, while accessing the resident's feeding tube. The LPN exited and re-entered the room, again applying only gloves and not a gown, despite PPE supplies being available inside the room. The facility's policy, dated 05/15/24, specifies that both gown and gloves are required for high-contact care activities, including enteral tube care, under EBP. The LPN acknowledged awareness of the policy and admitted to not following the required PPE protocol. The DON confirmed the EBP requirements and stated that staff had been provided with badges containing EBP information and had received in-service training. The deficiency was identified for one of three sampled residents observed for EBP, in a facility with 75 residents.