Failure to Safeguard and Respect Resident’s Personal Television
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to respect and safeguard a resident's personal belongings, specifically the resident's television (TV), and did not ensure the resident had appropriate access to this personal possession. A surveyor observed a functioning 32-inch black TV on a portable stand in the resident's room, which staff reported had been recently purchased by the resident's family because the previous TV had been broken in the facility. A CNA stated that the family had also purchased the prior TV and reported hearing that a nurse had broken it by bumping it with the resident's bathroom door. The LPN involved reported that, during a transfer using a mechanical lift with three CNAs present, the resident's TV fell from the bedside table onto a bag of dirty clothes and was then placed back on the table by a CNA; she stated she did not inspect the TV afterward and was unaware it was broken. She later heard that she was being blamed for breaking the TV but did not address these reports. The Administrator stated that the family had contacted her months earlier about the broken TV and that she believed the TV had simply stopped working after five years of use; she did not go to the room to verify the condition of the TV. The Maintenance Director confirmed that the resident's TV had been broken in the facility several months earlier, did not know how it broke, and stated that the family purchased the replacement TV, which he installed on the TV stand. The Ombudsman Residents' Rights document cited in the report affirms that residents may keep and use their own property.
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