Failure to Perform Hand Hygiene During Medication Administration
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to ensure hand hygiene was completed according to infection control practices during medication administration for five of six residents reviewed. On 1/13/26 at 7:50 a.m., a Qualified Medication Aide (QMA 10) was observed passing medications during breakfast in the main dining room. After handing one resident a cup of medications and while waiting for the resident to swallow, QMA 10 removed a piece of bacon from another resident’s shirt, lifted her long hair from her neck, scratched her head, and ran her fingers through her hair. When the resident finished taking the medications, QMA 10 returned to the medication cart and began setting up medications for another resident without washing or sanitizing her hands. At 8:11 a.m., QMA 10 spoon-fed a resident crushed medications in applesauce and, while walking back to the medication cart, tweaked another resident’s shirt as she joked with her, again without performing hand hygiene before setting up medications for the next resident. At 8:21 a.m., QMA 10 administered medications to another resident and returned to the medication cart without washing or sanitizing her hands before preparing medications for yet another resident. At 8:27 a.m., QMA 10 administered medications to that resident and did not wash or sanitize her hands before starting to set up the next medication. The facility’s General Dose Preparation and Medication policy, revised 11/15/24, indicated that appropriate hand hygiene should be performed before and after direct resident contact, which was not followed in these observed instances.
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