Medication Cart Left Unlocked and Unattended
Penalty
No penalty information released
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Summary
A registered nurse was observed preparing medication for a resident, removing the medication cup from the cart, and then walking approximately five feet down the hall to enter the resident's room, leaving the medication cart unlocked and unattended in the hallway for about four minutes. During an interview, the nurse acknowledged that the cart should not have been left unlocked and unattended. Review of the facility's medication storage policy confirmed that medications are required to be stored safely and securely. This failure to secure the medication cart had the potential to affect all 25 residents on the hall, with a facility census of 107.