Unsanitary Storage of Clean Linens in All Linen Closets
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a deficiency in the facility’s infection prevention and control program related to unsanitary storage of clean linens in three of three linen closets. During an observation of the second-floor clean storage linen closet with a CNA, a very large pile of socks was found on the floor with a dirty pair of shoes placed on top of the socks. Multiple items of clothing, hospital gowns, and bedsheets were also on the ground, and various items of trash were sitting on shelving units alongside clean linens. The CNA confirmed these conditions at the time of the observation. Additional observations on the first floor with an LPN revealed similar issues in two separate linen closets. In the 100-hall clean linen closet, multiple bedsheets, trash bags, Styrofoam cups, and plastic bags were on the floor, and Styrofoam cups and plastic bags of trash were stored on shelves with clean linens. In the 400-hall linen closet, Styrofoam cups and plastic bags were on the floor, and the shelves holding clean linens had visible dirt and splatter stains. Multiple sheets stored there had black lint on them. The LPN verified these findings. The Administrator later confirmed that all residents use the linens and towels from these facility linen closets. Facility policy states that soiled and clean linen should be separated at all times, that clean linen will remain hygienically clean through measures to protect it from environmental contamination, and that any linen that falls onto the floor or is not visibly clean after processing should be reprocessed.
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