Failure to Properly Label and Remove Expired Medications and Supplies
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to ensure all drugs and biologicals were stored and labeled according to accepted professional principles. Specifically, during an inspection of a nurse medication cart, one out of five insulin pens was found without an opened date documented on the pen. When questioned, the LVN present acknowledged that without a date, it would be unclear how long the insulin pen had been in use, potentially leading to the use of expired medication. Additionally, during an observation of the medication room, expired supplies were found, including a package of flu collection swabs and a package of specimen collection kits. The DON confirmed that using expired supplies could result in improper functioning or inaccurate test results. Facility policy requires that drug containers be labeled with expiration dates and that expired items be reported to the nurse manager, but these procedures were not followed in the instances observed.