Failure to Ensure Resident Privacy and Dignity During Room Entry
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to honor residents' rights to a dignified existence, self-determination, and communication by not ensuring staff consistently knocked and announced themselves before entering residents' rooms. Specifically, a CNA entered a female resident's room without knocking or announcing, interrupting an interview with a State Surveyor, and proceeded to set up the resident's meal tray before leaving. The resident, who had an intact cognitive status as indicated by a BIMS score of 14 out of 15, confirmed that she did not hear the CNA knock or announce their presence. In another instance, a different CNA entered another female resident's room while simultaneously saying "knock knock" as they walked in, rather than before entering. This resident also had an intact cognitive status, with a BIMS score of 15 out of 15. Interviews with staff, including CNAs, LVN, ADON, DON, and the Administrator, revealed that the facility's policy requires staff to knock and announce themselves before entering residents' rooms to maintain privacy and dignity. However, the observed actions did not align with this policy, as staff either failed to knock or did so while entering, rather than prior to entry. The facility's written policy on residents' rights also emphasizes the importance of privacy, dignity, and respect, which was not upheld in these instances.