Failure to Follow Infection Control Practices During Medication Administration
Penalty
Summary
During a medication administration observation, a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) was seen preparing oral medications for a resident, including aspirin, potassium chloride, and torsemide. While placing the medications into a cup, the cup tilted and the medications fell onto the medication cart. The LPN then used his bare hands to pick up the medications from the cart and placed them back into the cup, contrary to the facility's infection prevention and control policy and the medication administration policy, which specifically state that medications should never be touched with bare hands. Interviews with the LPN, the Director of Health Services (DHS), the Infection Preventionist (IP), and another LPN confirmed that the correct procedure is to use gloved hands or a utensil, such as a spoon, to handle medications that have spilled. All staff interviewed acknowledged that using bare hands to pick up medications is an infection control issue and could result in contamination of the medication. The facility's policies, reviewed and current, reinforce these procedures and expectations.