Medication Storage, Labeling, and Security Deficiencies
Penalty
Summary
Multiple deficiencies were identified regarding the storage, labeling, and disposal of medications and supplies. Expired treatment supplies, such as culture swabs, were found in a treatment cart, and staff confirmed these items should not have been present. Medication storage rooms contained staff personal belongings, and medications were not properly segregated by type, with transdermal patches stored alongside oral medications and artificial tears stored with oral medications. The medication refrigerator was found to be outside the acceptable temperature range, and staff acknowledged this deviation from policy. Further observations revealed that topical and oral medications were stored together in medication carts, such as antifungal cream with oral tablets and suspensions, and injectable medications were stored with inhalant medications. Discontinued medications were not removed from medication carts, and medication carts were left unlocked and unattended. A white capsule was found on a resident's bed, despite the resident not being authorized for self-administration, and the nurse confirmed the medication should have been administered and not left with the resident. Additional deficiencies included unlabeled and resident-specific creams left at the bedside of a resident with severe cognitive impairment, and artificial tears eye drops were found at another resident's bedside. Staff verified that these items should not have been accessible to residents in this manner. The facility's policies and procedures required medications and biologicals to be stored in locked compartments and maintained under proper conditions, but these were not consistently followed, as evidenced by the findings.