Failure to Administer Prescribed Diabetes Medication as Ordered
Penalty
Summary
A deficiency occurred when a licensed nurse failed to administer a prescribed medication, dulaglutide injection, to a resident with diabetes as ordered by the physician. During a medication pass observation, the nurse provided several medications to the resident but omitted the dulaglutide, which was scheduled to be given every Wednesday. The nurse later stated that she did not notice the medication was due because it was listed at the end of the medication administration record and had not yet been given. Further, the nurse revealed that the dulaglutide was not available at the time it was due and needed to be ordered from the pharmacy. The resident involved had a diagnosis of diabetes and was admitted with multiple other conditions. The Director of Nursing confirmed that medications are required to be available and administered as ordered, especially those given on a weekly schedule. Facility policy also requires medications to be administered within one hour of the prescribed time. The failure to provide the dulaglutide as ordered resulted in the resident's medical needs not being met at the scheduled time.