Failure to Maintain Functional Call Light Systems in Resident Room
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves nonfunctioning resident call light systems in a specific resident room and the facility’s failure to ensure that call lights were consistently operational. A resident representative reported that during a visit, both call lights in the room did not work despite multiple attempts to activate them, and neither the hallway light above the doorway nor the red indicator light at the wall plug illuminated. Subsequent observation with a nursing assistant confirmed that the call light for the bed by the door would not activate at all, and the call light for the bed by the window only activated after the button was pressed more than three times. The Maintenance Director reported that the facility’s process for checking call light operation was to manually test each call light on a rotating schedule, testing one half of the building one month and the other half the next month. The call light system test log showed that the call lights in the relevant room’s section had been tested and passed on a prior date, and the room was not scheduled to be tested again until a future month. The Maintenance Director stated that interim repairs depended on care staff verbally notifying maintenance or entering a work order into the TELS electronic system. The Administrator acknowledged that both call lights in the room required replacement and stated that all resident call lights should be working at all times.
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