F0677

E

Failure to Provide Timely Incontinence Care and Scheduled Bathing, with Falsified ADL Documentation

Cleveland, Ohio Survey Completed on 01-14-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to provide timely incontinence care and scheduled bathing/showering for multiple residents who required assistance with activities of daily living. For one resident with spinal stenosis, muscle weakness, repeated falls, and schizoaffective disorder, the admission MDS documented total dependence or extensive assistance needs for toileting and hygiene, and the care plan required prompt response to needs and one‑to‑two staff assistance for toileting. Staff interviews revealed that when this resident requested to be changed during a meal service, CNAs and an LPN told him they could not provide incontinence care during tray pass due to a facility policy of “no patient care during meal passes.” The resident’s call light was turned off, he turned it back on, and ultimately removed his soiled brief and threw it into the hallway. Staff confirmed they delayed his incontinence care until after meal service. Other residents reported they were told they had to wait until after meals to be changed, and that they were not changed in the morning before breakfast despite being incontinent.

Another resident with COPD, muscle weakness, and frequent bowel and bladder incontinence, who used a motorized wheelchair and was dependent for toileting hygiene, was care planned to be checked and changed every two hours and as needed. On the morning of observation, this resident was found in an electric wheelchair with pants saturated with urine and reported not having been changed since the start of the CNA’s shift at 7:00 a.m. because staff were doing breakfast and were “not allowed” to change residents during meals. Later that afternoon, observation of incontinence care showed the resident’s pants and chair pad were heavily soiled with urine and stool, and stool was present on the resident’s side and peri area. The primary CNA confirmed the last check/change had been around 9:00 a.m. and stated she usually waited for the resident to request changes, while the resident reported being unable to sense incontinence and that some CNAs did not routinely check her. Physical findings included deep red inner buttocks and creasing of the buttocks and thighs from prolonged sitting without movement.

The facility also failed to provide scheduled showers or baths to several residents and had documentation irregularities. One cognitively intact resident, frequently incontinent and dependent for bathing, was scheduled for showers twice weekly but had multiple dates over several months with no shower record and no indication of being offered or receiving a bath or shower; the DON confirmed that on those dates the resident would not have received or been offered bathing as scheduled. Another cognitively intact resident requiring substantial assistance with bathing reported not receiving scheduled showers consistently, stating staff said there was not enough staff; shower records showed multiple missed or not‑offered showers on scheduled days, which the DON verified as accurate. A third resident, dependent for bathing and recently hospitalized, reported begging for a bath for several days, stated she only received about one shower a month, and complained of being offered showers in the middle of the night. Review of shower sheets showed a shower documented on a date when she was hospitalized, and a later bed bath entry bearing a CNA’s forged signature; the DON and the CNA confirmed the resident was not in the facility on the documented date and that the CNA had not signed the later record.

A further resident with systemic lupus erythematosus, cerebral palsy, and muscle weakness, who required substantial assistance for bathing and was scheduled for twice‑weekly showers, reported not having a shower in three weeks and attributed this to hot water issues. Observation noted very oily hair. Shower sheets showed two recent entries indicating the resident refused showers, both signed with a CNA’s name and an illegible nurse signature. During review, the CNA whose name appeared on the forms stated the resident had never refused on those dates, denied the signatures were hers, and pointed out that the signatures did not match her known signature from a prior date. The DON confirmed that residents should receive at least two showers or baths per week, that lack of hot water would not constitute a refusal, and that no staff member should sign for a CNA who did not provide the care. These findings collectively demonstrate failures to provide timely incontinence care and scheduled bathing, as well as inaccurate and falsified documentation of ADL care.