F0755

D

Failure to Follow Safe Medication Administration and Resident Identification Practices

Wallingford, Connecticut Survey Completed on 01-30-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves failures in safe medication administration practices, including resident identification, proper disposal of refused medications, and limiting medication administration to licensed personnel. One resident received his or her scheduled medications at approximately 8:30 PM and then was given another resident's medications at about 10:15 PM, resulting in a reported medication error. At the time, the resident was described as alert, slightly lethargic, and able to respond verbally and appropriately. The error occurred after one resident initially refused medications, which were then labeled with that resident's name and placed back into the medication cart instead of being disposed of. Later, those medications were handed by an LPN to a nursing assistant to administer, and the nursing assistant gave them to the wrong resident.

Additional observations on a later date showed that two nurses failed to verify resident identity before administering medications. One LPN administered medications to a resident without checking the wristband, stating that he or she was familiar with the resident, despite acknowledging that facility policy required checking the wristband. Similarly, an RN administered medications to another resident without confirming identity, also citing familiarity and acknowledging that policy required verification by wristband or photo. Interviews with the DNS and review of facility policy confirmed that only licensed personnel were to prepare and administer medications, refused medications were to be disposed of immediately with new doses prepared if needed later, and resident identification was to be verified by wristband or photo before each medication administration.