F0880

E

Failure to Maintain Effective Infection Control Practices for PPE, Hand Hygiene, and Shared Equipment

Waukesha, Wisconsin Survey Completed on 02-23-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to maintain an effective infection prevention and control program, including proper hand hygiene, PPE management, and cleaning and disinfection of shared resident care equipment. Surveyors observed multiple PPE carts outside residents’ rooms containing garbage, including balled-up paper from used straws and cookie packaging stored in drawers with clean gowns and other PPE. A rolling vital signs monitor shared among 33 residents was found with dirty linen and used tissues with a dried red substance in its basket, with the blood pressure cuff, thermometer, and pulse oximeter resting on top of these soiled items. An LPN used this vital signs machine on a resident without noticing or removing the dirty linen and tissues and did not disinfect the blood pressure cuff before or after use; the LPN also used a manual blood pressure cuff from the nurse’s cart on the same resident and returned it without cleaning.

The facility did not consistently implement Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) and PPE use as ordered and as outlined in its policies. One resident with a history including infected left knee prosthesis, type 2 diabetes, primary hypertension, vitamin D deficiency, and stage 3 chronic kidney disease had a physician order for EBP, but there was initially no EBP signage or PPE storage outside the room, and the resident’s Kardex contained no indication of EBP or other precautions. The Infection Preventionist and a CNA exited this resident’s room without any discarded PPE evident, and the Infection Preventionist later acknowledged not knowing at the time that the resident was on EBP and that signage and a PPE cart were not in place until after the issue was recognized. CNAs subsequently transferred this resident with a mechanical lift without donning PPE, stating they were unaware of the precautions and did not see signage or PPE storage before entering; they also stated they did not believe transferring was a high-contact care activity requiring PPE, despite the EBP sign listing transferring as such.

Hand hygiene and glove use practices during personal care were inconsistent with the facility’s handwashing policy. One CNA was observed entering a resident’s room wearing the same gloves used previously, touching environmental surfaces and equipment, assisting with clothing changes and transfers, leaving the room with the same gloves to obtain linens, and only later removing gloves and performing hand hygiene. During peri care for the same resident, the CNA contaminated clean linen by placing it in the sink, turning on the faucet, and using the soap dispenser pump with gloved hands before using the linen for the resident’s face. The same CNA was also seen exiting another resident’s room wearing gloves, retrieving clean linens from a hallway cart, and returning to the room without removing gloves or performing hand hygiene. In another case, during incontinence care for a resident with multiple sclerosis, diabetes, morbid obesity, and hypertension, one CNA removed gloves and left the room without hand hygiene, and the other CNA completed perineal care, applied barrier cream, and handled linens and equipment before removing gloves and leaving the room to retrieve a Hoyer lift without performing hand hygiene.

The facility also failed to ensure proper cleaning and disinfection of mechanical lifts between residents, contrary to its policy that multiple-resident-use equipment be cleaned and disinfected after each use. Surveyors repeatedly observed CNAs using mechanical or Hoyer lifts to transfer several residents, including those dependent on chair/bed-to-chair transfers, and then placing the lifts in hallways or in the bath/shower room without sanitizing them. This occurred after transfers for multiple residents, including those with significant comorbidities such as diabetes, atrial fibrillation, and hypertensive heart disease with heart failure. Staff interviews revealed inconsistent understanding and practice: some CNAs stated lifts are only wiped down after use in rooms with precautions, others stated lifts are washed at night, while several staff members, including the Infection Preventionist and DON, stated that lifts should be sanitized after every use or when leaving the room. Despite these stated expectations, surveyor observations documented that lifts used for multiple residents were not disinfected between uses.