Unsecured Resident Medication Information Left Unattended
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to safeguard resident-identifiable information by leaving empty medication packets containing sensitive information unattended on top of a medication cart in a hallway accessible to residents and staff. The unattended packets displayed the resident's name, medication details, and pharmacy address. The medication cart was left unsupervised for approximately two minutes, during which time other individuals could have accessed the information. A medication aide identified the unattended packets and secured them after being questioned by the investigator. The resident involved was a male with multiple complex medical conditions, including acute respiratory failure with hypoxia, heart attack, pneumonia, candidiasis, anoxic brain damage, cognitive communication deficit, tracheostomy, gastrostomy, and an indwelling urethral catheter. The nurse responsible for the medication cart admitted to leaving the packets unattended as a reminder to reorder medication and acknowledged this was a violation of privacy protocols. The Director of Nursing confirmed that staff were expected to secure all resident information and recognized the incident as a breach of policy.