Unsecured Medication Cart Left Unattended During Mealtime
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to keep medications secure and inaccessible to unauthorized staff and residents, as required by its own policy and professional standards. The facility’s “Control and Administration of Medications” policy dated 11/13/24 states that all medication areas and cabinets must be kept locked at all times when the medication nurse is not present. During a mealtime observation on 1/20/26 at 12:30 PM, surveyors observed the Sawtooth Hall and Targhee Hall medication carts unattended outside the dining room, and the Sawtooth Hall cart had one drawer containing medications ajar. At 12:33 PM, an RN approached the Sawtooth Hall cart and, when asked, stated the cart was locked; however, the surveyor pointed out the open drawer, and the RN was able to pull the drawer out, push it back in, and then relock the cart. The RN acknowledged that the drawer should have been locked but was not, confirming that medications on that cart were left unattended and unsecured.
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