Serving Coffee or Hot Liquids to Residents

Residents in long-term care centers are at a higher risk of receiving significant burns when they spill hot coffee (or other hot liquids) on themselves. Regulations related to supervision and safety (F689) pertain to nursing home responsibilities when serving coffee to residents, particularly those that require supervision or assistance with meals and nutrition.

Martin Brothers developed a Serving Hot Liquids Safely one-pager that outlines steps nursing homes can take to ensure safety of residents. The one-pager includes recommendations as follows:

Coffee must be brewed between 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit to extract the full flavor and tea brewed between 185 – 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Coffee should be held between 175-190 degrees Fahrenheit to maintain the fresh brewed flavor.

However, full thickness burns can occur as low as 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Safety considerations for nursing homes:

• Determine if residents can access heating and brewing equipment. If they can, are residents who may be at a higher risk of accidents and hazards (such as those cognitively impaired or with limited mobility) supervised in the area where heating and brewing equipment is placed?
• Protective shields and toggle covers can be placed to reduce the risk of accidental burns by the equipment.
• When serving, coffee should be poured by staff when possible. If residents are able to access self-serving hot liquids, they should be encouraged to not overfill the containers and use covers on drinking cups when possible. A sign reminding residents of the hot liquids and recommendations could be beneficial as a reminder.
• Staff should ensure that hot liquids are not overfilled in the drinking cups.
• Beverages should be placed away from the edge of the table and near the resident’s dominant hand.
• Staff should remind residents that liquids are hot and to be careful.
• Residents with visual impairments should have the hot liquids placed within their visual field or in the circumstance the resident is blind, they should be told where the hot liquids are according to their plan of care.
• Coffee placed into a carafe before being served may have a lower temperature than coffee directly from the equipment.
• Hot liquids should be allowed to cool before being served or consumed.

Managing residents’ ability to safely consume hot liquids independently:

• Nursing homes should identify when residents may be at a higher risk of burning themselves when consuming hot liquids. Interventions should be implemented for those individuals who prefer to have hot beverages with meals or snacks.
• Interventions should be person-centered based on the resident’s individualized care plan.
• Staff could collaborate with therapy staff on whether residents should be independent or have assistance including interventions that can be implemented such as adaptive equipment.

When hot liquid spills occur:

• The area should be quickly cooled by flushing with cold water as able to.
• Clothing should be removed where hot liquid was spilled if possible to reduce the length of time the hot liquids are in contact with the skin.
• Cover burns with a dry sterile dressing.

In addition, nursing homes should complete incident reports and review circumstances for root cause analysis and implementation of additional safety interventions as appropriate when burns occur. An incident report would include notification to the resident’s physician and responsible party and depending on the severity of the burn, physician consultation may be necessary.