Failure to Provide Scheduled Showers and Hygiene Assistance
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that residents who required assistance with activities of daily living, specifically bathing and personal hygiene, consistently received showers as scheduled. One resident with morbid obesity, diabetes, anxiety disorder, and chronic kidney disease, who was cognitively intact and required maximum assistance with bathing, went up to 12 weeks without a shower while residing in a locked unit. Documentation confirmed a lack of shower records for this resident over a two-month period, and the resident reported repeated refusals by night shift staff to provide showers, despite complaints to the DON. Another resident with multiple chronic conditions, including multiple sclerosis and morbid obesity, was scheduled for showers twice weekly but did not always receive them, as confirmed by both the resident and the DON. A third resident, who was cognitively intact and required substantial staff assistance with bathing, missed a scheduled shower due to short staffing and reported not being shaved regularly, which was corroborated by observation and lack of documentation. Facility policy required staff to provide necessary services for hygiene, including bathing and grooming, for residents unable to perform these tasks independently.