Medications Improperly Left at Bedside Without Physician Order
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that medications were properly stored in accordance with professional standards. During observation, a resident with vascular dementia, cerebral infarction, and hypertension was found to have several medications left in a medicine cup on his bedside table. The resident, who had moderate cognitive impairment and required minimal assistance with activities of daily living, stated he did not know how long the medications had been there and that nurses often left his medications at the bedside for him to take. Review of the medical record and physician orders confirmed there was no order for the resident to self-administer medications or for medications to be left at the bedside. An LPN acknowledged preparing and leaving the medications on the bedside table and confirmed the absence of an order for self-administration. Facility policy requires that residents may only self-administer medications if the physician and care planning team determine it is safe, which had not occurred in this case.