Failure to Assess Residents for Safe Self-Administration of Medications
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to assess two residents for safety prior to allowing them to self-administer medications. In one instance, a registered nurse handed a resident a cup containing multiple medications and allowed the resident to leave unsupervised without verifying ingestion or providing supervision, despite no assessment for self-administration being present in the resident's chart. In another case, a resident was found with a prescription inhaler on their bedside table and reported self-administering the medication earlier in the morning after the nurse left it there, again without any documented assessment for self-administration. The Director of Nursing confirmed that assessments are required for residents self-administering medications, and the facility was unable to provide a medication administration policy when requested.