Westwood Specialty Care: Catheter Care Failures - IA
A complaint inspection at Westwood Specialty Care on October 30, 2025 found that nursing assistants performing perineal care on residents with urinary catheters were not adhering to the procedures the facility had set for itself. The violation was cited under federal tag F0690, which covers the treatment and care of urinary incontinence and catheter use. Inspectors rated the harm level as minimal or potential for actual harm, with few residents affected.
The stakes with catheter care are not abstract. Residents with indwelling urinary catheters are already at elevated risk for urinary tract infections, which in older adults can escalate quickly into bloodstream infections and sepsis. Proper cleaning technique, including using a separate wipe or cloth for different areas of the perineum, exists specifically to prevent bacteria from one area contaminating another.
The facility's own policy was detailed. For female residents, staff were instructed to wash the perineal area in a specific sequence, use a clean washcloth for the rectal area, wipe from the base of the labia toward the buttocks, and rinse and dry thoroughly before moving on. For male residents, the policy required starting at the urethra and working outward, gently washing the catheter junction about three inches down the tubing, retracting the foreskin on uncircumcised residents, washing the penis, scrotum, and inner thighs in sequence, and repositioning the foreskin before finishing. At multiple points, the policy called for removing gloves, sanitizing hands, and putting on a fresh pair before continuing to a different part of the body.
When the Regional Nurse Consultant was interviewed on October 1, 2025 at 10:11 in the morning, she confirmed what the policy required. Asked directly whether staff should use a different wipe for the groin, the front perineal area, the penis, and the urethral area, she said yes.
That answer mattered because it established that leadership understood the standard. The question was whether the people providing hands-on care to residents were meeting it.
The inspection report does not describe what specific harm, if any, residents experienced as a result of the lapse. It does not name the residents involved or detail how many staff members were observed performing care incorrectly. What it documents is a gap between what the facility's written procedures required and what was actually happening at the bedside.
Facilities write hygiene policies for a reason. The sequence of steps, the instruction to change cloths between body areas, the hand hygiene requirements between glove changes, none of that is bureaucratic formality. Each step is a barrier against infection. When staff skip steps or use the same wipe across multiple areas, those barriers collapse.
For a resident who cannot perform their own hygiene, who depends entirely on a nursing assistant to keep them clean and infection-free, the difference between a staff member who follows the procedure and one who doesn't is not a paperwork distinction. It is the difference between a catheter site that stays clean and one that becomes a pathway for bacteria.
The Regional Nurse Consultant told inspectors she expected staff to follow policy. At Westwood Specialty Care, the inspection found that expectation wasn't being met.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Westwood Specialty Care from 2025-10-30 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: June 23, 2026 · Our methodology
Westwood Specialty Care in Sioux City, IA was cited for violations during a health inspection on October 30, 2025.
The violation was cited under federal tag F0690, which covers the treatment and care of urinary incontinence and catheter use.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.