Failure to Provide Ordered Mechanical Soft Diet
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to provide food in a mechanically altered form as ordered for a resident who required a mechanical soft diet. The resident was admitted with diagnoses including Alzheimer’s disease and hypertension, and a quarterly MDS assessment documented that she was dependent on staff for eating and required a mechanically altered diet. An undated facility list of residents needing mechanically altered diets also identified her as requiring a mechanical soft diet. Despite these documented needs, staff interviews revealed that the kitchen was cutting food into large pieces rather than preparing it in an appropriate mechanical soft form. A CNA reported that mechanical soft food should be small, but the kitchen was only cutting food into large pieces, and another CNA stated that kitchen staff were providing regular food to residents who required a mechanical soft diet, including this resident. During an observation of the resident’s supper tray, the meal ticket correctly indicated a mechanical soft diet, but the tray contained a hamburger cut into large pieces and placed on a full-size bun. The CNA present at the time of observation confirmed that this was not appropriate for a mechanical soft diet and stated that the hamburger in large pieces on the tray would not be safe for the resident to consume. This noncompliance was investigated under a specific complaint number and affected one of three residents reviewed for appropriate diets, with 13 residents in the facility identified as requiring mechanically altered diets.
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