F0755

D

Unattended Scheduled Medications Left at Bedside

Longwood, Florida Survey Completed on 02-19-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

Surveyors identified a deficiency in medication administration when a resident’s physician-ordered 9:00 AM medications were found unattended at the bedside several hours later. At 12:27 PM, a medication cup containing four pills (a yellow tablet, a pink tablet, a white tablet, and a pink and gray capsule) and a six-ounce clear plastic cup with clear liquid and a spoon were observed on the resident’s bedside table next to the lunch tray. The resident, who was alert to person, place, and time, stated these were his 9:00 AM medications and that the clear liquid was his MiraLAX, both of which he reported had been left at the bedside by the nurse. Review of the resident’s physician orders showed scheduled 9:00 AM doses of Aspirin 81 mg, Flomax 0.4 mg, Losartan 25 mg, MiraLAX 17 g, and Oxybutynin 10 mg.

The assigned LPN stated she did not know where the medications at the bedside came from and said they were not present when she administered the 9:00 AM medications, although she acknowledged leaving the resident’s 9:00 AM liquid stool softener (MiraLAX) at the bedside in a clear plastic cup. The facility’s MAR documented that the resident’s 9:00 AM medications had been given by the LPN at 9:00 AM, which conflicted with the surveyor’s observation of the medications still present in the cup at 12:27 PM. The DON later confirmed, after speaking with the physician and verifying the medications, that the four pills and the clear liquid were indeed the resident’s scheduled 9:00 AM medications that remained on the bedside table three and a half hours after the scheduled administration time. Facility policy on Medication Administration required that medications be administered by licensed staff as ordered and that staff observe resident consumption of medication and report and document refusals, which did not occur in this instance.