Failure to Protect Resident Privacy by Opening Delivered Packages Without Consent
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure a resident’s privacy rights regarding personal mail and delivered packages, resulting in a breach of confidentiality for one resident (R1). The facility’s written policy on Mail/Package Screening stated that delivered items would be opened by the facility only upon written consent from the resident and acknowledged residents’ rights to send and promptly receive unopened mail and other letters, packages, and materials, including those delivered by means other than the U.S. Postal Service. During an interview, Resident R1 reported that facility staff, acting under the direction of a previous administrative staff person, were opening packages delivered to the resident without obtaining consent, and that the previous administrative staff person had told the resident that because the packages were not always delivered by the U.S. Postal Service, the resident did not have the right to receive them unopened. In a separate interview, the Nursing Home Administrator confirmed that Resident R1’s deliveries had been opened previously without the resident’s knowledge or permission, contrary to facility policy and the resident’s privacy rights. This deficiency was cited under 28 Pa. Code 201.14(a), Responsibility of licensee, based on the facility’s failure to follow its own policy and to protect the resident’s right to privacy of mail and delivered packages.
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