Medication Cart Left Unlocked and Unattended
Penalty
No penalty information released
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Summary
A medication cart was observed to be left unlocked and unattended on two separate occasions outside a resident's room, with no staff present to secure it. The cart contained various medications, including heart medication, blood pressure medication, antipsychotics, and diuretics. On both occasions, an LVN returned to the cart from a distant hall and acknowledged having left it unlocked, stating she either forgot or got sidetracked. The facility's policy, last reviewed in 2010, requires that medication carts be locked if the nurse leaves them unattended. The Director of Nursing confirmed in an interview that the medication cart should always be locked when not attended.