Medication Cart Left Unlocked and Unattended
Penalty
Summary
A medication cart on the 100 hall was observed to be unlocked and unattended by a resident's room. The nurse responsible for the cart, an LVN, was in a resident's room with the door closed and out of sight of the cart at the time. The LVN confirmed during an interview that she was responsible for the cart and had been trained on the facility's policy, which requires medication carts to be locked whenever unattended. She stated that she forgot to lock the cart because she was rushing to assist a resident. Interviews with the DON and ADM confirmed that all nursing staff had been trained on medication storage policies, which require medication carts to be locked when not in use. Both the DON and ADM stated that monitoring is conducted through compliance rounds and walking rounds to ensure adherence to this policy. Review of the facility's Medication Labeling and Storage Policy further confirmed the requirement for all medications and biologicals to be stored in locked compartments, with access limited to authorized personnel.