Failure to Obtain Consent and Inform Residents Regarding In‑Room Audio/Video Surveillance
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to treat two residents with respect and dignity and to promote their quality of life by not properly managing audio and visual surveillance in their shared room. One resident with moderate cognitive impairment, who had a guardian appointed to assist with decision making, was admitted to a room already containing a video monitoring camera placed by the roommate’s activated POA. The camera was located on top of the roommate’s closet, pointed toward the corner of the roommate’s side of the room, and had audio capability. The facility did not have access to the surveillance, but the roommate’s POA could observe both video and audio, allowing them to hear conversations occurring anywhere in the room, including those involving the cognitively impaired resident. Surveyor review of records found no evidence that the cognitively impaired resident or the resident’s guardian had been informed of or consented to the presence of the camera, and no documentation that this was discussed at a care conference, despite the NHA’s statement that Social Services had done so. The guardian confirmed she was not aware of the camera and was not comfortable with it being in the resident’s room. Additionally, there was no consent in the roommate’s record for the camera, despite an email chain months earlier indicating the need for such consent from the roommate’s POA. Neither resident’s care plan included any information or interventions related to the video surveillance in their room.
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