Failure to Properly Store and Label Medications
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed a medication cart containing a medicine cup with approximately 12 pills labeled for a specific resident, which had been set aside because the resident preferred to take their medications later. A Certified Medication Aide confirmed this practice. Further inspection of the medication cart revealed unsealed or opened stock medications that were not labeled with the date they were opened. The Director of Nursing acknowledged that medications should not be pre-set and left in the cart, and that opened medications should be dated according to facility policy, which aligns with pharmacy recommendations. The facility's policy requires that the date be indicated on medications when the manufacturer's seal is broken by LTC personnel.