WURTLAND, KY - A federal inspection at Wurtland Nursing & Rehabilitation revealed serious nutritional care failures that resulted in a resident's hospitalization for dehydration and dangerous electrolyte imbalances.
Critical Feeding Tube Management Failures
The February 2025 complaint investigation documented that a resident identified as R62 was hospitalized for dehydration and hypernatremia after facility staff failed to provide all ordered nutrition and fluids through their feeding tube. Hypernatremia occurs when sodium levels in the blood become dangerously elevated, typically due to inadequate fluid intake or excessive fluid loss.
This violation falls under federal regulation F690, which requires nursing homes to ensure residents receive proper nutrition and hydration according to their medical needs and physician orders. The regulation mandates that facilities follow prescribed feeding schedules and monitor residents' nutritional status.
Medical Consequences of Feeding Tube Neglect
Feeding tubes serve as lifelines for residents who cannot consume adequate nutrition orally due to swallowing difficulties, neurological conditions, or other medical issues. When facilities fail to deliver prescribed nutrition and fluids, residents face immediate health risks.
Dehydration in elderly nursing home residents can develop rapidly and lead to serious complications including kidney dysfunction, confusion, falls, and cardiovascular stress. Hypernatremia specifically indicates that the resident's fluid intake was severely inadequate relative to their sodium levels, creating a dangerous metabolic imbalance.
The combination of dehydration and hypernatremia requires immediate medical intervention and hospitalization to restore proper fluid and electrolyte balance through careful monitoring and controlled rehydration protocols.
Industry Standards and Required Protocols
Federal nursing home regulations require facilities to maintain detailed feeding schedules for tube-fed residents, document all nutrition and fluid delivery, and monitor residents for signs of nutritional deficiency or dehydration. Staff must verify tube placement, administer prescribed volumes at designated intervals, and immediately report any complications or missed feedings.
Proper feeding tube management includes regular assessment of the resident's tolerance to feedings, monitoring for complications such as aspiration or tube displacement, and ensuring prescribed nutritional requirements are met consistently throughout each 24-hour period.
Facility Response and Oversight
The inspection findings indicate systemic failures in the facility's nutritional care protocols and staff supervision. When residents depend entirely on feeding tubes for nutrition and hydration, any lapse in care can have immediate and serious consequences.
This violation demonstrates the critical importance of rigorous staff training, clear documentation protocols, and administrative oversight of nutritional care delivery. The hospitalization of R62 represents a preventable medical emergency that occurred due to facility care failures.
Federal inspectors classified this as a complaint investigation, suggesting concerns were raised about the facility's care practices that prompted regulatory review of their nutritional management systems.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Wurtland Nursing & Rehabilitation from 2025-02-11 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
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