Failure to Protect Resident Dignity and Privacy in Public Areas
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure residents were treated with respect and dignity by allowing two residents to remain exposed in public areas. One resident, an elderly female with dementia, severe cognitive impairment (BIMS score of 7), wheelchair use, and total dependence on staff for ADLs including lower body dressing, was observed in the main lobby in a reclining chair with a blanket moved to the side and no clothing from the waist down, leaving her brief exposed. When asked if she wanted to cover up or wear pants, she declined. Later the same day, she was observed in the dining room eating her noon meal in the same reclining chair with her left leg exposed up to her hip and her brief visible, while other residents were in the immediate area. Her care plan documented an ADL self-care deficit and bowel and bladder incontinence. A second resident, an elderly male with kidney failure, complications of an indwelling urinary catheter, Parkinson’s disease, moderate cognitive impairment (BIMS score of 9), and dependence on staff for most ADLs, was observed eating his noon meal in the main dining room with his urine collection bag hanging from his wheelchair without a privacy cover. His care plan documented bladder incontinence, an indwelling catheter, and an ADL self-care deficit. Multiple staff interviews, including with the Activity Director, LVN, CNAs, RN, and ADON, confirmed their understanding that residents’ privacy, dignity, and self-esteem should be protected, that residents should not be exposed to others, and that the facility is the residents’ home. The ADON stated she was not aware that the male resident had been out without a privacy cover on his urine collection bag or that the female resident had exposed herself by pulling off her blanket, and stated the female resident should have been fully dressed. The facility’s Resident Rights policy required employees to treat all residents with kindness, respect, and dignity and affirmed residents’ rights to a dignified existence and to be treated with respect, kindness, and dignity.
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