F0755

F

Unauthorized Medication Administration and Inaccurate EMR Documentation by Non‑Licensed Staff

Metropolis, Illinois Survey Completed on 01-27-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to ensure that only authorized, licensed personnel prepared, administered, and documented medications, and to ensure accurate documentation of who administered those medications. Video surveillance from the evening of 1/15/26 showed a certified nursing assistant (V5) removing medication cart and medication room keys from her pocket, opening the medication cart, popping medications into cups, entering the medication room without a nurse present, taking medication cups to resident rooms, and documenting on a facility laptop. The administrator (V1) stated that V5 did not have an EMR login and was unsure how V5 was documenting the medications. Additional surveillance footage showed V5 taking cups of medications to three residents’ rooms at specific times that evening, with no nurse visible accompanying her, despite V1’s statement that V5 was supposed to be working with another nurse and should not have been administering medications.

Multiple cognitively intact residents reported that V5 personally brought and administered their medications that night without another nurse present. One resident (R1), admitted with anemia, atrial flutter, and hypertension and with a BIMS score of 15, stated that V5 brought his medications the evening of 1/15/26 and that he did not see another nurse with her; he believed V5 had finished her courses and was now a nurse working independently. However, R1’s MAR documented that an LPN (V7) administered his evening medications, including Atorvastatin, Melatonin, Tamsulosin, Iron Sulfate, Metformin, and Protonix. Another cognitively intact resident (R3), with COPD, type 2 diabetes, and fibromyalgia and a BIMS score of 15, reported that she believed V5 brought her medications and that V5 had not been working with another nurse recently; R3’s MAR documented that V7 administered multiple medications, including Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen, Olanzapine, Rosuvastatin, Docusate, Lactulose, Lamictal, Oxcarbazepine, Potassium, and Reglan. A third cognitively intact resident (R4), with type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and spinal stenosis and a BIMS score of 15, stated that the “new girl” (V5) gave him his medications and that he did not see her working with another nurse, while his MAR also showed V7 as the person who administered his evening medications.

Staff interviews further demonstrated unauthorized medication administration and inaccurate documentation. V5 stated she did not work independently and that V7 was present while she was administering medications, but acknowledged she held the medication cart and medication room keys, helped set up medication cups with V7, and then took the medications to residents without V7 accompanying her; she also stated she did not chart in the EMR because she had no login. In contrast, V7 later stated she had given V5 her EMR login and that V5 had taken the computer, and confirmed she was not present while V5 was administering medications to residents. V7 said it was not typical to share her EMR login but she trusted V5. The DON (V2) confirmed that V5 was not a licensed nurse, stated she had told V5 she could not administer medications, and said she would not expect a nurse to give their EMR login to another employee or to allow someone else to document medication administration under their name. These practices conflicted with facility policies requiring that only persons licensed or permitted by the state prepare, administer, and document medications, and that the individual administering the medication initial the MAR, as well as job descriptions specifying that LPNs and RNs accurately administer and document medications in compliance with facility and regulatory standards.