Failure to Secure Prescription Medications and Improper Medication Storage
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that prescription medications were not properly secured on two separate occasions. On one occasion, two prescription medications, H-Chlor12 wound cleanser and lactulose solution, were found sitting on top of an unlocked medication cart in a high-traffic resident area without staff supervision. An LPN confirmed that these medications should have been secured and the cart locked or supervised. On another occasion, two unopened vials of albuterol inhalation solution were found in a resident's room, next to a nebulizer mask, rather than being secured in the medication cart as required. The LPN acknowledged that these medications should have been secured. A review of the resident's clinical record revealed that the resident had diagnoses including chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, dementia, and morbid obesity. The resident had a physician's order for ipratropium-albuterol inhalation solution, but not for the albuterol inhalation solution that was found in the room. Facility policy required all medications and treatment items to be stored in a locked cabinet, cart, or medication room inaccessible to residents and visitors. These observations and record reviews demonstrated a failure to follow the facility's medication storage policy.