Delayed Response to Resident Call Lights and Toileting Assistance
Summary
The facility failed to respond timely to residents’ requests for assistance for 2 residents observed. During a tour, a call light for one room was observed on while LPN staff and a CNA passed by, and the call light remained unanswered until the Social Service Director answered it about 17 minutes later. In another observation, a resident was heard yelling loudly for help for approximately 15 minutes, with no staff observed in the hallway and the call light not on. Resident #750 had diagnoses including history of falling and benign prostatic hyperplasia with lower urinary tract symptoms. The resident’s MDS showed dependence on staff for toilet hygiene and transfers, frequent urinary incontinence, and bowel incontinence, and the resident scored 15 on the BIMS, indicating intact cognition. In interview, the resident said staff did not come at night, that call lights could take hours to be answered, and that he could not get out of bed on his own. He said he kept a urinal on the table because it filled quickly, and when he needed it emptied or had a bowel movement, staff did not come, causing him to yell for help. Resident #799 was observed with an emergency call light on and beeping while staff walked past the room. The resident was later found sitting in a wheelchair in front of the toilet with no clothes on and holding a soiled incontinent brief, stating he needed help. The call light was turned off by an RN while the resident remained in the bathroom waiting for assistance, and the resident later said no one had come to help, he had been waiting a long time, and he had been yelling loudly for help. His record showed chronic kidney disease stage 3, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertensive heart disease, frequent bowel and bladder incontinence, substantial to maximum assistance needed for toilet transfers, and moderately impaired cognition.
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