F0692

D

Failure to Monitor Weights and Nutritional Intake for Residents with Significant Weight Loss

Brookfield, Wisconsin Survey Completed on 01-08-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to monitor and document weights and nutritional intake, and to report significant changes in eating and supplement consumption for multiple residents with known nutritional risks. For one resident with diabetes, dysphagia, and moderate protein-calorie malnutrition, orders were in place for weekly then monthly weights, and the care plan directed that the resident be weighed per facility protocol. The weight record showed an 11.7% loss between late September and mid-October, followed by no documented weights until early January, when an additional 10.5 lb loss was recorded. A nutrition note in mid-October identified a significant, unplanned, and unfavorable weight loss and requested a reweight to confirm accuracy and assess for ongoing change, but there was no documentation of intervening weights or refusals. The quarterly MDS later documented no or unknown weight loss despite these changes, and there was no evidence in the record that the resident refused to be weighed.

Another resident with diabetes, morbid obesity, CHF, and glaucoma had two active orders for weekly weights, including daily weights before breakfast and weekly weights for CHF with notification parameters for rapid weight gain. The care plan required monitoring and recording of PO intake and weighing as ordered by the physician. The weight summary showed an 8.7% loss over a short period in October, with no further weights documented afterward. A nutrition note identified a significant, unplanned, and unfavorable weight loss and recommended continued monitoring of intakes and weights per facility protocol. However, there were no documented current weights on the subsequent annual MDS, which recorded no or unknown weight loss, and review of the EMR revealed no documentation of weight refusals or recorded meal intakes. Observations showed the resident repeatedly with largely uneaten breakfast trays, reporting poor appetite, visual difficulty seeing the tray, and variable eating, while staff interviews acknowledged that the ordered weights had not been done and that intakes were not routinely documented.

A third resident with protein-calorie malnutrition and dysphagia experienced a documented 6.0% weight loss between late September and mid-October, after which no further weights were recorded despite an order for weekly weights followed by monthly weights. A nutrition note identified this as a significant, unplanned, and unfavorable weight loss, recommended increasing a high-calorie supplement to three times daily, and directed monitoring of PO intake with a goal of 50% of meals and monitoring of weights per facility protocol. The care plan was revised to reflect risk for malnutrition, with interventions to weigh per facility protocol and to monitor and record intake every meal. Medication records showed that the resident did not consume the ordered Proheal supplement on a large number of occasions in December and January, yet there was no documentation that the RD or physician were notified of these refusals, no recorded meal intakes, and no documentation of weight refusals. Observations showed the resident, who was legally blind, unable to see or access food on the tray and not eating, while dietary aides reported they did not record intakes and did not consistently notify nursing when residents ate little or nothing. Nursing leadership and the RD acknowledged reliance on facility protocol for weights, lack of documentation of refusals, and uncertainty about intake documentation, despite facility policies requiring routine monitoring of nutritional status, weighing per protocol, and evaluation of significant weight variances.

Facility policies on Nutrition/Hydration Status Maintenance and Weight Management required that residents be provided assistance with eating and drinking as needed, be routinely monitored for changes in nutritional status using data such as weights and intake records, and be weighed monthly or more often as clinically indicated. The policies also required that significant weight variances prompt evaluation, documentation of potential causes, and interventions, and that reweights be obtained for significant changes unless otherwise ordered. In practice, for the three residents reviewed, ordered and policy-required weights were not consistently obtained or documented, significant weight losses identified by the RD were not followed by documented reweights or ongoing monitoring, and meal and supplement intake records were absent despite care plan directives. Staff interviews confirmed that intakes were not routinely documented, refusals of weights were not recorded, and concerns about poor intake were often communicated informally, if at all, rather than through the EMR or formal notification to the RD or physician.