Nonfunctional Phone System on Secured Behavioral Units
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain a properly operating phone system, resulting in nonfunctional phones on both the Secured Women’s Behavioral Unit and the Secured Men’s Behavioral Unit. On the Secured Women’s Behavioral Unit, surveyor observation with a CNA showed the nurse’s station phone did not work and a second phone on the unit was unplugged and not operational; the CNA confirmed there was no working phone on the unit and stated that if a resident’s family member tried calling in, there was no way to reach staff. On the Secured Men’s Behavioral Unit, observation with another CNA revealed the phone was not plugged in and therefore not operational; this CNA reported the facility had many issues with phones often not working, and the RN assigned to that unit also verified the phone was not operational. The receptionist reported that when she is not on duty, incoming calls roll to the nurse’s station depending on the prompt selected, and acknowledged there had been times recently when the phones were not working. The Administrator stated he did not think it was an issue when families were unable to call into the facility, explained that staff often gave families their personal phone numbers, and confirmed there was no specific policy regarding phones. The deficiency involved all residents on the secured behavioral units, as the lack of functioning phones at the nurse’s stations and within the units meant staff could not be reliably reached through the facility’s phone system, particularly when the receptionist was not present and calls were supposed to roll over to the units.
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