Failure to Ensure Availability of Routine Medication for Resident
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide and/or obtain a routine medication, Latanoprost Ophthalmic Solution eye drops, for a resident with legal blindness, Parkinson's disease with dyskinesia, major depression, and dry eye syndrome. The resident had a physician's order for the eye drops to be administered daily at 7:00 PM, one drop in both eyes. During an observation, the resident reported that he only received his eye drops if he specifically asked for them and did not receive them otherwise. When nursing staff checked the medication cart and pharmacy medication dispenser, they were unable to locate the resident's prescribed eye drops. Documentation from the pharmacy indicated that the medication had been delivered earlier in the month, and the Medication Administration Record showed daily administration, but the medication was not available at the time of the survey. A prior grievance from the resident's family member had also documented concerns that the resident was not receiving his eye drops. The facility's policies assign responsibility to nursing staff for maintaining medication supplies and to the Director of Nursing for supervising medication administration. Despite these policies, the medication was not available for administration, and the process for ensuring timely medication delivery and availability was not followed, resulting in the resident not having access to his prescribed eye drops.