Failure to Maintain Dignity, Privacy, and Respectful Communication
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves failures to maintain resident dignity, privacy, and respectful communication during care and staff interactions. For one resident with muscle weakness, anxiety disorder, and respiratory failure, whose MDS documented intact short- and long-term memory, surveyors observed incontinence care during which a CNA used a walkie-talkie to request additional wet wipes. When the RN brought the supplies, the resident was lying in bed with pants at the ankles and only a brief covering the perineal area. Staff did not place a blanket over the resident or pull the privacy curtain before the door was opened, and the door was left open with the resident in the same state of undress after the wipes were placed on the bedside table. During the continuation of incontinence care, when the resident stated, "I need to pee," the CNA responded, "Go ahead and go, you still have your brief on." The resident then paused and said, "Never mind, I don't have to go." These actions occurred despite a facility policy stating that residents are to be treated with respect and dignity and that resident privacy is to be maintained. The deficiency also includes staff communication about residents in a manner that could be overheard and was perceived as disrespectful. A resident with quadriplegia, anemia, hyperlipidemia, and a BIMS score of 15 indicating no memory impairment reported that staff were talking about him in the hallway outside his room and that he could hear them. He stated that the nurse talks badly about other residents, and that when he opened his door and confronted her, she became upset and short with him for the rest of her shift. He further reported that this was not the first time he overheard staff talking about him and other residents, and that he felt frustrated at being labeled crabby or as causing issues when he believed he was standing up for himself and other residents. The Administrator acknowledged that staff should not be discussing residents in the hallways.
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