Failure to Honor Resident Bathing Preferences and Accurately Document Care
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to honor resident choice and provide showers or baths according to resident preference and facility policy for seven of thirteen residents reviewed. The facility’s Personal Care Procedure policy states that baths/showers are to be provided based on individual status and needs, that showers may be given at any time the resident chooses, and that a shower may be necessary 2–3 times per week or more per resident request, with bed baths on non-shower days per resident preference. For one resident with epilepsy, Crohn’s disease, cerebral infarction, and monoplegia of an upper limb, clinical records showed that from 1/21/26 through 2/19/26 the resident was only offered showers/baths on four specific dates. The resident reported wanting a daily shower but being satisfied with twice weekly, stated that a scheduled shower was missed, and was observed with greasy hair. The resident also indicated they could shower independently but were not allowed to do so for safety reasons. Another resident with atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus, morbid obesity, and cardiac heart failure was documented as being offered showers/baths on five specific dates during the same review period and reported that showers should occur on Sundays and Wednesdays. This resident stated they did not receive a scheduled shower due to staff citing a lack of hot water, while facility documentation recorded the event as a refusal, which the resident later denied. Further review showed that several other residents scheduled for showers/baths on that same day did not receive them and instead received bed baths, with CNAs and an LPN attributing this to no hot water being available. The Maintenance Director, however, confirmed that hot water was available for those residents’ showers/baths. The NHA and DON confirmed that these residents did not receive showers/baths per their preferences and that there was no evidence that one resident received showers/baths at least twice weekly as preferred.
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