The violations occurred despite written facility policies requiring staff to decontaminate reusable medical equipment between residents and wash hands before and after direct contact with patients.
On February 18, inspectors watched nurse S10LPN use both a wrist blood pressure cuff and an arm cuff to check multiple residents' vital signs over more than an hour. The cuffs were never cleaned between uses. The nurse also failed to wash her hands or use sanitizer before or after touching residents.
When confronted at 9:20 a.m., S10LPN admitted she should have decontaminated the blood pressure cuffs between residents but didn't. She also confirmed she failed to wash her hands or use sanitizer before and after resident contact.
The next day brought identical violations. Inspectors observed nurse S7LPN using a wrist blood pressure cuff on a resident at 9:02 a.m., then placing the unwashed cuff directly onto a medication cart. The nurse continued dispensing medications without washing her hands or using sanitizer.
S7LPN later told inspectors she didn't always decontaminate blood pressure cuffs after use, "but did so when she thought about it." She admitted she should have washed her hands or used sanitizer before and after direct contact with residents.
Both the assistant director of nursing and another nursing supervisor confirmed to inspectors that blood pressure cuffs should be decontaminated between residents and that staff must wash hands or use sanitizer before and after direct resident contact.
The facility's own infection control policy, dated January 13, 2025, explicitly states that "reusable resident care equipment will be decontaminated between residents." Another undated policy requires employees to "wash their hands before and after direct contact with residents" or use alcohol-based hand rub if hands aren't visibly soiled.
Beyond hand hygiene failures, inspectors found the facility failed to implement Enhanced Barrier Precautions for a dialysis patient, despite written physician orders requiring them.
Resident #9, who has end-stage renal disease and receives dialysis three times weekly, was supposed to have Enhanced Barrier Precautions in place during high-contact activities. The resident's physician had specifically ordered EBP on January 15, related to the kidney disease.
But when inspectors checked the resident's room on February 18 at 11:56 a.m., no EBP signage appeared on the door and no protective equipment was stationed outside the room. The same violations persisted during checks at 3:00 p.m. that day and again the following morning at 10:04 a.m.
The assistant director of nursing admitted Enhanced Barrier Precautions weren't in place for Resident #9, despite the physician's orders. The supervisor confirmed that dialysis patients should have EBP protocols implemented.
Inspectors also discovered improper oxygen storage that created infection risks. Resident #17, who requires continuous oxygen therapy for severe persistent asthma, had oxygen tubing and nasal prongs lying directly on the bedroom floor when inspectors arrived on February 17.
The resident's care plan specifically called for administering oxygen therapy as ordered, and physician orders required changing oxygen tubing weekly on Thursdays. Nursing staff were supposed to store the tubing in labeled bags when not in use.
Nurse S10LPN acknowledged the oxygen tubing was on the floor and should have been stored in a labeled bag. The director of nursing confirmed all oxygen tubing should be labeled and stored in bags when not in use, with weekly changes occurring every Thursday.
The inspection also revealed problems in the kitchen, where dietary staff were improperly using bleach to sanitize equipment and failing to properly set up the three-compartment sink system.
The administrator immediately provided verbal training to dietary staff on February 17, instructing them not to use bleach for sanitizing equipment and showing them proper procedures for the three-compartment sink and sanitizer checking. A dietary consultant was brought in the following day to provide additional training.
Two off-duty dietary workers were called in on February 18 for verbal instruction about proper sanitization procedures. All dietary staff received training by February 18, according to the facility's correction plan.
The facility committed to monthly in-service training for all dietary staff, with new hire orientation using a checklist system. The dietary consultant will monitor the administrator's training efforts during monthly visits, with progress reported quarterly in quality assurance meetings.
Camelot Leisure Living, located on Highway 84 West in Ferriday, serves residents requiring various levels of care including those with complex medical conditions like kidney disease and respiratory disorders. The February 20 inspection found violations affecting infection control protocols that are fundamental to preventing disease transmission in nursing home settings.
The facility's correction date for the dietary violations was listed as February 19 at 1:29 p.m. Plans for addressing the infection control failures included immediate retraining of nursing staff on hand hygiene protocols and proper medical equipment decontamination procedures.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Camelot Leisure Living from 2025-02-20 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
