Failure to Properly Label and Store Medications
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure proper labeling and storage of medications for two residents. In one instance, a bottle of oral liquid lorazepam, a controlled medication prescribed for anxiety, was found in the medication storage room without a legible expiration date. The medication had last been administered to the resident several months prior, and both nursing staff and the Director of Nursing acknowledged that the expiration date was unclear and should have been clarified with the pharmacy before use. Facility policy requires that each prescription medication label include an expiration date. In another instance, an unlabeled bottle of normal saline solution (NSS) was found unattended on a resident's bedside table. The resident, who was cognitively intact, reported that staff left the NSS for use in flushing a Foley catheter and for wound treatment. A nurse confirmed that the NSS should have been labeled and stored in the treatment cart, not left at the bedside. Facility policy states that any medications found at the bedside not authorized for bedside storage must be reported and given to the charge nurse.