Failure to Prevent Cross-Contamination in Laundry Department
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure proper infection prevention and control practices in the laundry department, specifically regarding the handling, storage, processing, and transport of linens. Observations revealed that clean blankets were stored in the soiled laundry room alongside boxes containing soiled infectious disease laundry. The soiled laundry room was also used to hang clean, wet blankets to dry, resulting in clean and soiled items being stored together. The soiled laundry was stored in cardboard boxes labeled as biohazard, and these boxes contained laundry from residents under isolation precautions due to infections. Laundry aides reported that the only personal protective equipment (PPE) available in the laundry department was gloves, and they did not use full PPE such as gowns when handling soiled infectious laundry. Both laundry aides stated they had not received specific training on handling soiled infectious disease laundry and relied on common sense and general hand hygiene practices. The Housekeeping Director confirmed that training for infectious disease prevention and control was outside his scope and that he had only received general infection control training from the DON, not specific to laundry procedures. The facility's infection prevention and control policy required that clean linen be separated from soiled linen at all times and that staff use PPE according to established policy. However, these procedures were not followed, as evidenced by the storage of clean blankets with soiled infectious laundry and the lack of appropriate PPE use by laundry staff. The DON and Administrator acknowledged that these practices placed residents and staff at risk for cross-contamination and infection.