Failure to Dispose of Completed Medication as Required
Penalty
Summary
Staff failed to dispose of a completed medication for a resident after the prescribed treatment period had ended. Specifically, a resident had an order for artificial tears to be administered every two hours as needed for seven days, with a documented end date. After the order was completed, the medication was not removed from the medication cart as required by facility policy. During an observation, an opened and used bottle of artificial tears was found in the medication cart, and a Certified Medication Aide confirmed it belonged to the resident and should have been disposed of after the order ended. Further review showed that the facility's Medication Disposal Form did not include documentation of the completed artificial tears for this resident. Interviews with staff revealed that the nurse responsible for destroying discontinued medications did not receive the completed eye drops, and the DON stated that completed medications should not be kept in medication carts. The facility's policy requires discontinued medications to be promptly removed and documented, which was not followed in this instance.