Unsanitary resident room and kitchen food prep area
Summary
The facility failed to provide a comfortable and sanitary environment for one resident who had diagnoses including hemiplegia following stroke, diabetes, chronic pain, and dementia. The resident’s quarterly MDS indicated intact cognition, clear speech, highly impaired vision, adequate hearing, and substantial assistance or dependence for ADLs, and the care plan noted left-sided hemiplegia, need for assist of two staff with a Hoyer, preference for a commode, and impaired visual function with legal blindness. During observation in the resident’s room, an extra wide commode was found with the waste bucket filled to the rim of the seat with toilet paper, the odor of BM permeated the room, wet wipes were left open on the commode arm, the overbed table with food and drinks was touching the commode, a pillow was on the floor, items were piled in the corner, and the wastebasket beside the dresser was full with a soiled brief hanging over the side. During interview, the nurse manager observed the room and stated it was not okay to leave a commode like that. She stated staff were expected to remove and/or empty a commode right away, take trash out when they left the room, and pick up the room before exiting. She also stated newer staff had issues with time management and that nursing report included reminders about removing trash, closing wet wipe packages, and cleaning commodes. The resident stated he was not aware of the cleanliness of his room because of limited eyesight, thought staff did a good job keeping it clean, and expected staff to keep the room clean because he could not do it himself. The facility also failed to maintain a clean and sanitary kitchen food preparation and service area. During the kitchen tour, an electrical outlet and extension cord above the food service area were observed with gray, fuzzy debris present, and the cord extended down from the ceiling to a printer. The debris-covered cords were located directly above clean plates, near the steam table, and adjacent to a food preparation area. The culinary director and environmental director both confirmed the cords were dirty, covered in debris and lint, required cleaning, and were not on a routine cleaning schedule. The culinary director stated debris could fall onto uncovered plates during meal plating, and the environmental director stated debris-covered cords would not be expected over a food preparation area due to the risk of debris falling onto plates or food being prepared.
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