Resident’s Personal Motorized Wheelchair Withheld, Forcing Use of Inappropriate Manual Wheelchair
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to honor a resident’s right to be treated with respect and dignity and to retain and use personal possessions, specifically her personal motorized wheelchair. The resident was admitted with MS, bilateral knee contractures, kyphosis, and scoliosis, and had a BIMS score of 15 indicating no cognitive impairment. She reported that she had been very mobile until about two weeks prior, when she went to a movie using her motorized wheelchair and a specialized public transportation service. When the transportation company did not return to take her back, she called the facility and was instructed to call 911, resulting in transport to a hospital and return to the facility the next morning. Upon her return, the Administrator told her she was “grounded,” and later acknowledged that her personal motorized wheelchair, which had come with her to the facility, was being kept in the facility but that she was not allowed to use it. The Administrator stated that after the first incident, the IDT met and the MD agreed to revoke the resident’s ability to leave on pass, and that after a second similar incident where the resident again left using her motorized wheelchair and specialized transportation and could not get back, he decided the only option to keep her safe was to deny her access to her motorized wheelchair. The resident reported that she did not know where her wheelchair was and that staff would not tell her, and she expressed that she wanted her personal wheelchair because the facility’s manual wheelchair was very uncomfortable. She described her arm getting stuck behind the manual wheelchair and difficulty elevating her legs to address edema. Observations showed her in bed tilted to the side with cushions for positioning. Facility policy and the admission packet stated that residents have the right to use and retain personal possessions unless doing so would infringe upon the rights or health and safety of other residents, but the facility nonetheless withheld her personal wheelchair and substituted an uncomfortable manual wheelchair.
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