Failure to Provide Dignified Toileting Assistance
Penalty
Summary
A deficiency occurred when a nurse aide instructed a cognitively intact resident, who required assistance with toileting and transfers, to urinate in a diaper if unable to wait for help. The resident, who had diagnoses including bradycardia, pacemaker placement, and high blood pressure, had a physician's order for transfer with assist of one and a rolling walker. Facility documentation and interviews confirmed that the aide used the term 'diaper' and told the resident to relieve themselves in it rather than providing timely assistance or appropriately communicating the need to wait. The resident was left to sit in feces overnight before staff returned to provide care. Facility policy and the resident's care plan required staff to encourage and assist with toileting and to use dignified language such as 'brief' or 'incontinent care products.' The incident report and interviews indicated that the aide's actions and language did not honor the resident's right to dignity and failed to provide care in a respectful manner.