Failure to Safeguard Resident's Personal Clothing
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure a resident's right to retain and use personal clothing, resulting in the loss of nearly all of the resident's clothing during her stay. Upon admission, the resident, who had severe cognitive impairment due to dementia and an anxiety disorder, was provided with three weeks' worth of labeled clothing by her family. By January, all of these clothes had disappeared, and the resident was found dressed in a hospital gown. The family had to purchase additional clothing for the resident, which also went missing, leaving her with only one or two pairs of pajamas at the time of her passing. There was no record of grievances filed by the family regarding the missing clothing. Interviews with staff revealed inconsistent and inadequate processes for inventorying and labeling residents' clothing. While some staff believed inventories were completed and uploaded into electronic health records, there was no inventory record for this resident. Staff also reported a lack of a system for documenting clothing added or removed during the resident's stay, and the facility did not have a missing items policy. The administrator confirmed that the family requested a refund for the missing clothing but was told a receipt was required. The facility's policy on misappropriation of resident property was reviewed, but there was no evidence of its effective implementation in this case.