Deficient Sanitation in Laundry Rooms and Medication Equipment
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to maintain a safe, clean, and homelike environment in both laundry rooms and in the handling of medication equipment. In the laundry room located in a separate building, there were strings of dust hanging from a dryer, dust accumulation on the tops of washers, and a thick layer of dust on baseboard trim stored above a worktable where clean linens and residents' personal clothing were placed. The Environmental Services Supervisor confirmed that the laundry room should be cleaned daily, including dusting equipment, and acknowledged that the area was being used for storage of old furniture and personal items, which should not be near clean laundry. Inside the facility, a housekeeping cart was stored next to a rack of residents' clean clothing, and the cart was not deep cleaned daily. The Environmental Services Supervisor stated that the residents' clothing would need to be rewashed and covered to prevent contamination. Additionally, a pill crusher on the 100-hall medication cart was found to have a dried light brown liquid substance and dark brown debris embedded in its crevices, indicating it had not been cleaned in a long time. Both the Wound Nurse and another nurse assigned to the 100-hall medication cart confirmed that nurses are responsible for cleaning the pill crushers and medication carts, and both acknowledged the pill crusher was visibly soiled and needed cleaning. The DON stated that cleaning the pill crusher was part of the medication cart cleaning process and should be done by the weekend supervisor.