F0677

E

Failure to Provide Timely Incontinence Care and Maintain Required Staffing Ratios

Madison, New Jersey Survey Completed on 01-15-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to provide timely incontinence care to dependent residents on the first-floor nursing unit, resulting in multiple residents being found with saturated briefs, strong urine odors, and soiled underpads. During a unit tour, a surveyor detected a strong urine odor throughout the unit and observed a cognitively intact resident sitting in a wheelchair next to their bed with a urine-saturated adult brief lying on the bed. The resident reported that the brief had been there for 45 minutes and that they had removed it themselves because a CNA had not checked on them. This resident’s records showed diagnoses including pneumonia, generalized muscle weakness, and type 2 diabetes mellitus, with MDS documentation that they were frequently incontinent of bowel and bladder and required staff assistance for personal hygiene. The resident’s care plans directed staff to provide incontinence care throughout the shift and to check for incontinence throughout the shift, wash, rinse, and dry the perineum, and change clothing after incontinence episodes.

During an incontinence tour of the first-floor east nursing unit with the LPN/unit manager, several additional residents who were dependent on staff for care were found with inadequate incontinence care. One resident with dementia, anxiety, and hypertension, and a BIMS score indicating severe cognitive impairment, was observed in bed with a brief that was saturated with urine; the LPN/unit manager confirmed the saturation. The MDS for this resident documented that they were always incontinent of bowel and bladder and required staff assistance for personal hygiene, and the care plan included interventions to provide incontinence care throughout the shift. Another resident with epilepsy, aphasia, and diabetes mellitus was observed in bed in a room with a strong urine odor; their brief was wet and the underpad was saturated with urine, which the LPN/unit manager confirmed. This resident’s MDS showed severely impaired cognitive skills, dependence on staff for personal hygiene, and that they were always incontinent of bowel and bladder, with a care plan directing staff to provide incontinence care every two hours and as needed.

Further observations on the same tour revealed additional failures to provide timely incontinence care. One resident with seizures, hemiplegia, hemiparesis, and hypertension was found in bed in a room with a strong urine odor; when the LPN/unit manager exposed the resident’s brief, there was a second brief inserted inside the first, and both briefs and the underpad were saturated with urine. The MDS for this resident documented severely impaired decision-making, dependence on staff for personal hygiene, frequent bladder incontinence, and constant bowel incontinence, with a care plan instructing staff to provide incontinence care as needed. Another resident with dementia, congestive heart failure, and hypertension, and a BIMS score indicating severe cognitive impairment, was observed in bed with a brief saturated with urine; the LPN/unit manager confirmed the saturation. This resident’s MDS showed they were always incontinent of bowel and bladder and required staff assistance for personal care, and the care plan called for incontinence care every two hours and as needed. A further resident with hypertension and congestive heart failure, on oxygen via concentrator at 3 LPM, was also observed in bed with a brief saturated with urine, confirmed by the LPN/unit manager; this resident’s MDS showed severe cognitive impairment, dependence on staff for personal hygiene, and constant bowel and bladder incontinence, with a care plan directing staff to keep skin clean and dry and provide incontinence care throughout the shift and as needed.

Interviews with staff revealed that incontinence care was not being provided every two hours as required by facility policy and resident care plans. The LPN/unit manager confirmed that the residents had not received timely and appropriate incontinence care every two hours per facility policy. A 7 PM–7 AM LPN stated that CNAs should have provided incontinence care every two hours but suggested that the CNA had too many residents to accomplish this. The 11 PM–7 AM CNA confirmed that she was responsible for 21 residents and was only able to make rounds twice during her shift, stating it was not possible to provide incontinence care every two hours with that assignment. The staffing coordinator initially reported being unsure of state-mandated CNA-to-resident ratios and later confirmed not being aware of those ratios, and also stated they believed nurses could be counted as CNAs even if they were the only nurse on the unit. The Director of Operations acknowledged that the night shift CNA-to-patient ratio on the first floor was 1:21 instead of the required 1:14 and confirmed that the unit was not staffed in accordance with state regulations. The facility’s incontinence care policy stated that it is the policy of the facility to promote resident comfort by keeping residents clean and dry to prevent skin breakdown, and the DON confirmed that incontinence care should be provided by CNAs every two hours and as needed.