Failure to Implement Hearing Aid Care Plan and Omit Care Plan for Penile Pump
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to develop and implement comprehensive care plan interventions related to hearing aids for one resident. One resident with documented hearing loss reported receiving hearing aids the prior year but not wearing them because she was unsure how to adjust them. During observation, her hearing aids were found in a charging case on a shelf, covered in a thin layer of dust, and she stated CNAs did not ask about them and she did not think staff knew she had them. A Quarterly MDS assessment documented minimal hearing difficulty and indicated she did not wear hearing aids, despite progress notes showing hearing aids were delivered and adjusted, and audiologist instructions that the resident should wear them daily, have them cleaned after each use, and be assisted by staff with insertion and removal and daily charging. The resident’s communication care plan identified hearing loss and included an intervention for staff to check that hearing aids were clean, functioning, and properly placed in both ears. CNA documentation sheets also instructed staff to check the hearing aids and store them appropriately. However, the CNA who routinely cared for the resident stated she had never assisted the resident with hearing aids and was unaware the resident had them. When she opened the computer to review the resident’s record, she did not see hearing-aid-related interventions on her screen and was unaware she could open and review the full care plan with resident-specific interventions. An LPN also stated the resident did not wear hearing aids and believed the resident had only recently had a hearing test, indicating a lack of awareness and implementation of the existing care plan and audiologist orders. The deficiency also includes failure to care plan an implanted penile pump for another resident. This resident was cognitively intact and admitted with a long-term urinary catheter and an inflatable penile pump, and he frequently complained of penile pain. Nursing staff reported that his penis was not flaccid, remained somewhat erect, and that he had a penile tear attributed to long-term catheter use, which had healed but would not grow back. The ADON stated the resident had a penile pump historically, that the resident reported the implant on admission, and that she believed it would have been documented on the admission assessment, but she had never seen it function and did not think there was a policy to care plan a penile pump, only pacemakers and pain pumps. Review of the care plan confirmed there was no care plan addressing the penile pump, despite the resident’s diagnosis of obstructive uropathy and ongoing catheter use.
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