Medication Storage and Labeling Deficiencies
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed multiple deficiencies in the facility's medication management practices. On one medication cart, wound gel was stored next to eye drops and throat lozenges, and an insulin pen for a resident was present without a date indicating when it was opened. Additionally, approximately 50 loose pills were found in a drawer of the same cart. On another medication cart, nitroglycerin tablets were stored with eye drops, and an insulin pen for another resident was found with an expiration date. These observations were confirmed by two LPNs. The facility's policy requires topical medications to be stored separately from oral medications when infection control is a concern and mandates that expired, contaminated, or deteriorated medications be separated from others until disposal or return to the pharmacy.