Failure to Label and Discard Opened Medications and Maintain Refrigerator Temperature Logs
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors found that the facility failed to properly label and discard opened vials of aplisol, a solution used for tuberculosis testing, in the medication room refrigerator. During observation, two open vials of aplisol were found without any date indicating when they had been opened, despite the product label stating it expired 30 days after opening. A Licensed Practical Nurse confirmed that the vials were not dated upon opening and acknowledged that they should have been discarded. Additionally, the facility did not consistently record the temperature of the medication refrigerator as required by facility policy. Review of the temperature logs revealed multiple dates where no temperature was recorded. The interim Director of Nursing stated that the practice was to check the refrigerator temperature daily, with the night shift staff responsible for this task, but the logs showed this was not consistently done.