Failure to Safeguard Resident Privacy and Confidentiality
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of residents' personal and medical information for three residents. In one instance, the privacy curtain between two residents' beds was observed to be off track, leaving a gap at the top and preventing it from being fully closed. Both a nurse aide and an LPN confirmed that the curtain had been in this condition for several months, compromising the residents' ability to have private space during care or personal activities. Additionally, a paper towel containing a resident's name and vital signs was found left unattended on a wheelchair in the hallway outside the resident's room, with no staff present. An LPN acknowledged that this information should not have been exposed in a public area, and the Director of Nursing confirmed that resident information should not be written on a paper towel and that a protected vital sheet is the appropriate method for recording such data.