Failure to Maintain Infection Control During Food Service
Penalty
No penalty information released
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Summary
A deficiency was identified when a dietary aide failed to follow proper infection control procedures while serving food from the tray line in the resident dining room. The aide was observed wearing the same gloves while pushing a tray cart, using the telephone, and then returning to handle food items on the tray line without changing gloves or performing hand hygiene. This lapse in infection control was confirmed by the regional dietary manager, who acknowledged that gloves should have been removed and hand hygiene performed before resuming food service tasks. The incident was observed during a random opportunity and had the potential to affect more than an isolated number of residents, given the facility's census of 56 at the time.