Inadequate Availability and Quality of Nutritional Snacks
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to ensure that a variety of snacks with nutritional value were consistently available and properly prepared for residents, as required by facility policy. Surveyors observed the snack pantry containing only one jar of peanut butter, no bread, and a tray with a small number of peanut butter and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in baggies, with hard bread crusts and no other snacks available except those purchased by residents themselves. The snack cart was observed to have only small bags of Cheez-Its as snacks. On another observation of snack sandwiches sent from dietary, surveyors found several peanut butter and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with hard crusts and such minimal fillings that the peanut butter and jelly had saturated into the bread, leaving no substance to the sandwiches. Multiple residents reported that snacks were not always available or offered, particularly at night, because staff did not have anything to provide. One resident stated that the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches had barely any filling, with only thinly spread peanut butter and jelly that soaked into the bread, which was hard. Another resident reported that the only snacks available were peanut butter sandwiches on hard bread with very little peanut butter. A staff member confirmed that dietary had repeatedly sent peanut butter sandwiches with only a small clump of peanut butter, about the size of a quarter, placed in the middle of the bread and not spread. Another resident indicated that nursing staff had to go out and buy peanut butter and bread so residents could have snacks because the dietary department rarely sent snacks. These findings were inconsistent with the facility’s written policies stating that each resident shall receive three meals daily plus an evening or bedtime snack, and that a variety of snacks of high nutritional value will be stocked in each service area by dining services.
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