Every finding on record at Stella Maris Inc Hospice Care Prog

Based on observation of a patient home visit and review of policies and procedures, the agencys skilled nursing professional failed to maintain infection control standards for 1 out of 3 home visits. This placed patients at risk for spread of infection and adverse health outcomes. --- Patient Observation Visit: #1 Findings include: On 01/25/2024, during home visit #1 observation, the skilled nursing professional returned all reusable medical equipment that was used to obtain the patient's vitals (thermometer, pulse oximeter (electronic device that measures oxygen level), blood pressure cuff, and stethoscope) to his/her nursing bag without performing cleaning of the equipment. On 1/25/2024, a review of the agencys policy and procedure, ";Bag Technique Policy," revealed, in part: ";Before placing items back in the bag, all surfaces must be cleaned with peroxide or bleach wipes and allowed to dry...." Evidence shows that a nursing bag can serve as a reservoir for multi-resistant organisms. Therefore, when the bag technique is not correctly performed, it poses a potential risk for indirect transmission of microorganisms (too small to be seen by the human eye and consists of bacteria, fungus, and virus) from one patient to another via a contaminated nurses bag. Proper bag technique reduces the spread of infection.