Failure to Honor Resident Food Preferences
Penalty
Summary
Facility staff failed to honor a resident's documented food dislike, specifically serving grits to a resident who had clearly indicated a dislike for this food item. The resident's annual MDS assessment showed that she was cognitively intact and capable of making her own daily decisions. Despite this, her breakfast tray was observed to contain grits, and her meal ticket also documented her dislike for grits. The resident reported that she receives food she dislikes almost every day. Interviews with dietary staff revealed that resident food dislikes are collected upon admission and entered into a computerized meal tracker system, which is supposed to generate alternative food items on the meal ticket. Staff are expected to follow these meal tickets when preparing trays. However, in this instance, the process was not followed, resulting in the resident receiving a food item she disliked. The facility's policy states that individual food preferences are to be assessed and communicated to the interdisciplinary team, but this was not effectively implemented for this resident.