Failure to Ensure Proper Medication Storage and Labeling
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure proper storage and labeling of medications for two residents. In one instance, an LPN was observed preparing medications for a resident and left a medication cup containing two pills and a packaged Tamsulosin tablet on top of the medication cart while entering the resident's room, leaving the cart and medications unattended and out of view. The facility's policy requires all drugs and biologicals to be stored in locked compartments, but this was not followed during the medication administration process. In another case, a resident with a history of COPD, amputation, and acute respiratory failure was found to have a bag in his closet containing multiple boxes of Albuterol and Fluticasone, which he obtained from his own pharmacy and used as he felt necessary. There were no physician orders for the resident to use his own medications or to keep them at bedside, and the facility's policy requires evaluation and specific orders for self-administration and bedside storage. The Director of Nursing was unaware of the resident's possession and use of these medications.