Failure to Provide Diet Consistent with Resident's Needs
Penalty
Summary
A deficiency was identified when a resident with dysphagia, oropharyngeal phase, and who was edentulous, was not served food in accordance with her prescribed diet. The resident's care plan and physician orders specified a regular diet with soft, bite-sized textures and thin liquids, and the dietary card for the dinner meal reflected these requirements. However, during observation, the resident was served a hot dog on a bun cut into uneven pieces ranging from 0.5 to 1 inch, along with other meal items. The hot dog was not considered soft or appropriately bite-sized for the resident's needs, and there were no condiments provided. The resident was observed eating the hot dog and bun without staff present in the room. Further review and interviews confirmed that the LPN assigned to the resident was unaware of the specific diet order until reviewing the tray card, and acknowledged that the hot dog as served did not meet the soft, bite-sized texture requirement. The registered dietitian also verified that a hot dog is not part of a soft diet and that the pieces served were not bite-sized. Additionally, the facility did not have a policy defining a soft diet with bite-sized texture for review. This failure to provide food in a form designed to meet the resident's individual needs constituted the deficiency.