Failure to Provide Toileting Equipment and Safe Transfer Support
Summary
The facility failed to provide services and equipment to improve toileting and toilet transfer abilities for a resident who was continent and able to walk and transfer with assistance. Resident 5 was admitted and re-admitted with diagnoses including ESRD, morbid obesity, muscle weakness, and benign prostatic hyperplasia with lower urinary tract symptoms. The resident’s MDS showed cognitive intactness, always continent bowel and bladder status, and need for partial/moderate assistance with toileting hygiene and bathing, supervision or touching assistance with walking 150 feet, and set-up or clean-up assistance with sit-to-stand, bed-to-chair transfers, and toilet transfers. During observation, Resident 5 was found lying in bed wearing adult briefs and stated he primarily used a bed pan and urinal for toileting and wore briefs daily because the bathroom toilet was too low and he did not have a commode or raised toilet seat. He stated he was over six feet tall, could not safely transfer on and off the toilet, had previously gotten stuck on the toilet and needed two staff members to assist him off, and had repeatedly asked staff for equipment to elevate the toilet seat or provide a commode that could accommodate his size and weight. He stated staff instructed him to use a bedpan, urinal, and adult brief instead, and he felt humiliated and degraded by toileting in bed and wearing a brief. OT 1 confirmed the resident had been discharged from OT after no longer progressing and documented partial/moderate assistance for toilet transfers, but OT 1 had only simulated transfers in the rehab gym using a chair and therapy mat rather than a regular toilet. OT 1 stated the simulation was not adequate because the surfaces were higher than the toilet in the resident’s room, and acknowledged the resident needed specialized equipment such as a raised toilet seat or commode to safely transfer. OT 1 stated the resident requested to practice toilet transfers during therapy, but she did not investigate his refusal to use the shower chair she suggested, did not offer other bariatric equipment, and discharged him without further attempts to maximize toileting and toilet transfer abilities. The DOR, CNA 2, and DON all stated that a continent resident who can walk should be toileting in the bathroom and that the facility had not provided the necessary equipment or opportunities to support safe toilet transfers.
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