Failure to Ensure Resident Privacy During Telephone Use
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to provide privacy for residents using the telephone, resulting in staff overhearing a resident’s personal phone conversations. Resident 1’s admission record showed she was admitted on the specified date, and her MDS dated 1/20/26 documented that she had clear speech, could make herself understood, could understand others, and that it was very important to her to be able to use a phone in private. Resident 1 reported that there was no privacy when she was on the phone, stating that staff or nurses would turn around and tell other nurses what she had just said, and that staff did not seem aware that she needed privacy during calls. Observation on 3/17/26 at 2:07 p.m. showed Resident 1 in her wheelchair in the hallway using a corded phone at the nurse’s station, with multiple staff present, including an LVN sitting at the nurse’s station and an OT standing behind her while she was on the phone. Interviews with staff confirmed that residents received phone calls at the front desk or nurse’s station, areas that always had staff present. CNA 1 stated that residents received calls at these locations and that she had assisted Resident 1 to the nurse’s station phone two days prior and remained with her the entire time. The Activity Director stated that at least four residents did not have personal cell phones and needed to use the facility phone, and that Resident 1 and another resident frequently used the nurse’s station phone. LVN 1 acknowledged that Resident 1 was not provided privacy during her phone conversations and stated she needed to be in a place where no one was around or have a wireless phone in her room. OT 1 stated residents had a right to privacy while using the phone and acknowledged that being in the area while Resident 1 made a personal call invaded her privacy. The ADON stated that if privacy is invaded during a phone call, any reasonable person would be upset. The facility’s Resident Rights policy, dated August 2009, stated that residents have the right to use a telephone in privacy and to exercise their rights and privileges to the fullest extent possible.
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