Unattended and Unlocked Medication Cart with Keys Left Accessible
Penalty
Summary
A medication cart was observed unattended and unlocked in the 300 hall, with the keys left on top of the cart and no staff members in sight. The drawers of the cart, which contained drugs and biologicals, were facing the hallway, making the medications accessible to unauthorized individuals. This was directly observed by surveyors at 7:22 AM, and shortly after, a Registered Nurse confirmed that the cart had been left in this unsecured state while unattended and out of sight. The Director of Nursing later confirmed that the facility's policy requires medication carts to be locked when not in use and that the keys should always remain with the nurse. The facility's written policy, adopted in 2019, also specifies that only authorized personnel should have access to medication storage and that carts should not be left unattended if open or accessible. The observed incident was not in compliance with these established procedures.