Failure to Enforce Mask Use During COVID-19 Outbreak
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a deficiency in the facility’s infection prevention and control program related to improper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), specifically masks, during a COVID-19 outbreak. CDC guidance dated 6/24/2024 recommended source control, including use of respirators or well-fitting masks, for individuals residing or working on a unit experiencing COVID-19 or other respiratory infection outbreaks. Signs posted at the front door and in the elevator instructed that masks were required for staff. Despite this, multiple staff members were observed either not wearing masks at all or wearing them improperly (under the chin) while in resident care areas, common areas with residents, and at the nurse’s desk in close proximity to others. On several occasions during the survey day, an LPN, laundry assistant, and multiple NAs were observed without masks or with masks worn under their chins while around residents or other staff. One LPN stated he did not know if he should be wearing a mask. The laundry assistant, who reported delivering laundry to all resident rooms, stated she was not wearing a mask because it made her face break out, and later acknowledged she had been informed she needed to wear a mask whenever around residents. Other staff members acknowledged that masks were required and should cover the nose and mouth when around residents or other people, yet were observed not following this requirement. The infection preventionist stated that all staff were required to wear masks in resident care areas and at the nurse’s desk, and the facility’s undated COVID-19 policy indicated signage would be posted regarding an outbreak, PPE, and source control.
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