Failure to Use PPE During High-Risk Resident Care Activities
Penalty
Summary
A deficiency occurred when a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) failed to follow infection prevention and control practices by not donning Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) while providing care to residents requiring enhanced barrier precautions. Facility policy required the use of gown and gloves during high-contact care activities, such as device care and wound care, for residents with wounds or feeding tubes. Despite these requirements, the LPN accessed a resident's Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastronomy (PEG) tube for medication administration and performed wound care on another resident with a stage 3 pressure ulcer, both without wearing the required PPE in enhanced barrier rooms. Medical record reviews confirmed that both residents had orders or care plans indicating the need for enhanced barrier precautions due to their medical conditions, including a PEG tube and a pressure ulcer. Observations by surveyors documented the LPN's failure to use PPE during these high-risk care activities. The Director of Nursing confirmed in an interview that nurses are expected to don PPE when administering medications through a PEG tube and when performing wound care, as per facility policy.