F0686 F686: Provide appropriate pressure ulcer care and prevent new ulcers from developing.
J

Failure to Prevent and Manage Pressure Ulcer Resulting in Severe Harm

Three Meadows Post AcutePerrysburg, Ohio Survey Completed on 12-23-2025

Summary

A deficiency occurred when the facility failed to provide timely assessment, ongoing monitoring, and appropriate interventions to prevent the development of a pressure ulcer for a resident with arterial and venous insufficiency who was identified as being at risk for pressure ulcers. The resident, who had severe cognitive impairment, immobility, and multiple comorbidities including diabetes and peripheral vascular disease, was found with an unstageable pressure ulcer on the right malleolus beneath an ankle monitoring device. There was no immediate wound assessment, no documentation of interventions regarding skin monitoring under the ankle monitor, and no evidence that the ankle monitor had been removed. The care plan did not include interventions to monitor the skin under the ankle monitor, and physician orders for the device did not specify skin checks. The wound was not accurately assessed or measured at the time it was discovered, and there was no documentation of family or physician notification. Following the identification of the pressure ulcer, there was a lack of timely and appropriate follow-up. The wound was not assessed by a physician on the day it was found, and wound care orders were not initiated until the following day. There was no documentation that the dietitian was notified or that the resident's nutritional status was reassessed in response to the new wound. As the wound deteriorated, recommended interventions such as the use of offloading heel boots were not documented as being implemented, and a wound culture was delayed. Orders for a vascular consult and laboratory testing were not promptly carried out, and there was no documentation that the physician was notified when intravenous fluids were not administered as ordered. The resident's wound continued to worsen, showing signs of infection, and ultimately required hospitalization. The resident was admitted to the hospital with a wound infection, septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, and severe hypoglycemia. Hospital records indicated the need for intravenous antibiotics, wound debridement, negative pressure wound therapy, and ultimately an above-the-knee amputation. Throughout the period leading up to hospitalization, there were multiple missed opportunities for timely intervention, monitoring, and communication among staff, providers, and family. Documentation was incomplete regarding the implementation of physician orders, wound care interventions, and monitoring of medical devices in contact with the resident's skin.

Removal Plan

  • The Administrator immediately notified Physician #600, the Interim Medical Director.
  • Unit Manager Licensed Practical Nurse (UMLPN) #108 conducted a thorough assessment on Resident #05 with no adverse effects noted.
  • Registered Dietitian (RD) #100 completed a nutritional reassessment for Resident #05 and updated nutritional interventions by adding an additional nutritional supplement with all meals.
  • The DON and UMLPN #108 reviewed Resident #05's wound care regimen to ensure it was updated per current physician orders.
  • UMLPN #108 reviewed and evaluated Resident #05's medical devices (heel boot) for proper fit and skin protection measures.
  • The DON implemented an enhanced turning and repositioning schedule for Resident #05 with documentation every two hours.
  • The DON and ADON #114 reviewed Resident #05's pressure redistribution surfaces as indicated by the current risk assessment.
  • The DON reviewed Resident #05's current skin care plan.
  • The ADON #114 reviewed the Certified Nursing Assistant's charting documentation tasks to ensure accuracy.
  • The DON/designee conducted audits for all residents to identify those at risk for pressure ulcer development, with focus on residents with ankle monitoring devices or other medical devices in contact with skin. Each identified at risk resident received immediate reassessment of current interventions and implementation of enhanced monitoring protocols.
  • The DON identified one current resident (#51) with an ankle monitoring device and implemented skin monitoring checks each shift.
  • The DON/designee identified 33 residents with medical devices and implemented enhanced orders for skin monitoring each shift.
  • The DON/designee identified 10 residents with existing pressure ulcers or a history of pressure ulcers and implemented enhanced skin monitoring orders for nurses to complete visual skin checks on shower/bath day along with a daily comprehensive skin evaluation.
  • The DON/designee identified 14 residents with vascular insufficiency or other circulatory conditions and implemented enhanced monitoring orders for nurses to complete visual skin checks on shower/bed bath day.
  • The DON/designee identified 34 residents at moderate to high risk of skin breakdown and implemented enhanced monitoring orders for nurses to complete visual skin checks on shower/bed bath day.
  • The DON, the Administrator, and ADON #114 conducted a root cause analysis identifying contributing factors including: insufficient knowledge of ankle monitoring skin monitoring protocols, lack of standardized skin inspection procedures for medical devices, insufficient communication systems for reporting skin changes, and absence of structured investigation process for new pressure ulcers.
  • The DON/designee started education for all nurses and certified nursing assistants on pressure ulcer prevention, medical device skin safety, skin and wound assessment and documentation training with emphasis on timely reporting. Nurses were also re-educated on implementation of physician orders. Education to be completed.
  • The Administrator and ADON #114 reeducated RD #100 on the position job description and the importance of reassessing residents with skin integrity changes.
  • The DON/designee implemented enhanced monitoring orders for nurses to complete visual skin checks on all residents on their shower/bed bath day. All new admissions will be evaluated to determine if they qualify for this classification.
  • The DON/designee implemented a standardized pressure ulcer investigation form and process.
  • The DON/designee implemented weekly wound care rounds with wound team participation.
  • The Administrator and the Quality Assurance Team reviewed policies on medical devices with skin integrity, lab procedures and policies, and clinical documentation.
  • The Administrator and Medical Director implemented new best practices on A Guide to Device Skin Inspection.
  • The DON reviewed the new admission checklist and updated it to include obtaining physician orders for skin monitoring for new admissions with medical devices. The new admission checklist was implemented and put into effect.
  • The Administrator notified MD #602 of Immediate Jeopardy.
  • UMLPN #108 conducted a thorough skin assessment on Resident #51 with no adverse effects noted.
  • The Administrator reeducated UMLPN #102 on job duties, manager role, chart review, wound care, accurate order entry, complete investigation, and follow through on all job duties.
  • The facility held an ad hoc Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) meeting with the Administrator, Infection Preventionist/ADON #114, UMLPN #108, UMLPN #102, and Medical Director.
  • The Administrator and Medical Director reviewed policies for laboratory procedures and clinical documentation. The reviewed policies were acceptable with no changes needed.
  • RD #100 reviewed all residents with skin integrity changes for nutritional intervention needs.
  • The Administrator/designee educated all staff on new best practices A Guide to Device Skin Inspection. Education was completed.
  • The Administrator/Designee educated all nurses on laboratory communication and documentation. Education was completed.
  • The DON/designee conducted a review of all residents with medical devices for skin integrity documentation. Ongoing monitoring will occur daily for five days, then five residents weekly for four weeks, then two residents monthly for two months with a completion date.
  • Unit Managers/designee performed an audit of physician order implementation timeframes on all residents with new orders or order changes. Audits will continue daily for five days, then audit five residents weekly for four weeks, then audit two residents monthly for two months with a completion date.
  • The DON/designee will audit random resident medical records to ensure pressure ulcer prevention interventions and skin assessments are in place as ordered. Audits by the DON/designee will continue with five random resident medical records per week for one month, then two random resident records per week for two months with a completion date.
  • The DON/designee will conduct weekly audits on wound dressing changes to ensure timely treatments on five random residents for four weeks, then for five random residents monthly for two months with a completion date.
  • All systemic changes would be reviewed monthly for three months by the Quality Assurance (QA) Team. The DON/designee would report monitoring plan results to the QAPI committee monthly. The QAPI committee would monitor on an ongoing basis until sustained compliance was achieved with quarterly reviews to assess effectiveness and make necessary adjustment to the monitoring plan frequency on demonstrated compliance rates.
  • Staff who were not educated would not be scheduled to work until the education was completed.

Penalty

No penalty information released
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The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.

Resources

Below are regulatory guidelines relevant to this citation:

See other F0686 citations
Failure to Implement Wound Specialist Orders for Unstageable Heel Pressure Ulcer
G
F0686 F686: Provide appropriate pressure ulcer care and prevent new ulcers from developing.
Short Summary

A resident with dementia, anemia, impaired mobility, and a high Braden risk score developed an in-house acquired right heel pressure injury that progressed to an unstageable ulcer with eschar, slough, malodor, and increasing size. Although a wound specialist repeatedly evaluated the wound, performed debridements, and issued updated orders to change from betadine and foam dressing to specific regimens using Vashe, medical-grade honey, and later 0.125% Dakin’s solution with dampened gauze and silicone foam adhesive dressings, staff continued to provide only the original betadine and foam treatment. Review of the TAR showed the specialist’s later orders were never implemented, and the DON confirmed the wound care recommendations were not followed, during which time the wound deteriorated and caused actual harm.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Obtain Timely Wound Consultation and Implement Ordered Pressure Ulcer Treatments
G
F0686 F686: Provide appropriate pressure ulcer care and prevent new ulcers from developing.
Short Summary

A resident with multiple comorbidities was admitted with an unstageable sacral pressure ulcer and placed on Medi-Honey dressings three times weekly. Over several weeks, the wound enlarged and remained covered with slough, but a wound specialist NP was not consulted until the ulcer had significantly worsened. When the NP did evaluate the wound, she performed debridements and ordered daily Dakin’s solution and later Dakin’s with Silvadene and calcium alginate, but the facility’s TAR showed staff largely continued Medi-Honey three times weekly, applied Dakin’s on only a few days, and never administered Silvadene. The wound progressed to a stage 4 ulcer with odor and signs of infection, later cultured positive for MRSA and diagnosed in the hospital as an infected stage 4 decubitus ulcer with osteomyelitis requiring surgical debridement, contrary to the facility’s own policy requiring timely reassessment and implementation of MD/NP-directed wound care.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Implement and Adjust Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Treatment Interventions
D
F0686 F686: Provide appropriate pressure ulcer care and prevent new ulcers from developing.
Short Summary

Two residents at risk for or with existing pressure ulcers did not receive appropriate, individualized pressure ulcer prevention and treatment. One resident with hemiplegia, severe cognitive impairment, total ADL dependence, and incontinence developed multiple heel and ankle wounds after initial blanchable redness was noted; ordered Prevalon boots were repeatedly unavailable, the order to use them at all times was not promptly updated in the NAR, a turning schedule was not entered into the EHR, tissue analytics were missed on a scheduled date, and a nutrition consult and initiation of ordered supplements for wound healing were significantly delayed. Another resident with a stage 2 pressure ulcer was repeatedly observed on a DermaFloat LAL mattress left on the firmest setting, and the DON confirmed staff had not followed the manufacturer’s instructions to adjust and verify the mattress setting to prevent bottoming out.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Improper Infection Control During Pressure Ulcer Dressing Change
D
F0686 F686: Provide appropriate pressure ulcer care and prevent new ulcers from developing.
Short Summary

A resident with an unstageable sacral pressure ulcer and hospice status had ordered daily wound care, including cleansing with normal saline, packing with calcium alginate silver, and covering with a border foam dressing. During an observed dressing change, an LPN, while wearing clean gloves, handled a pen marker from under PPE, adjusted a scrub jacket cuff to check the time, and labeled the dressing, then used the same contaminated gloved hand to pick up the calcium alginate silver and place it into the wound bed. These actions did not follow the facility’s clean dressing change policy or infection control standards for wound care.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Improper Aseptic Technique During Pressure Ulcer Wound Care
D
F0686 F686: Provide appropriate pressure ulcer care and prevent new ulcers from developing.
Short Summary

A resident with a stage 4 pressure injury on the right lateral lumbar region did not receive wound care consistent with aseptic technique and facility policy. An LPN placed scissors and wound supplies on a PPE cart and an uncleansed bedside table, then used the same scissors to cut silver alginate that was applied directly to the wound bed. The LPN also sprayed gauze with wound cleanser and set the wet gauze on the outside of its package, which had contacted soiled surfaces, before using it in the wound care process. The DON acknowledged that these actions could contaminate the wound and were not in accordance with the facility’s pressure injury prevention and management policy requiring evidence-based treatment to promote healing and prevent infection.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to assess, document, and report new pressure ulcers
D
F0686 F686: Provide appropriate pressure ulcer care and prevent new ulcers from developing.
Short Summary

Failure to assess, document, and report new pressure ulcers: A resident with a pelvic fracture and intact cognition developed stage II pressure ulcers on both inner buttocks and a new pressure ulcer on the heel. Staff interviews and record review showed the DON/wound nurse did not document the heel wound or notify the MD, did not notify the MD when the left buttock ulcer was identified, and wound monitoring was not completed daily as required by the facility's own process.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
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