Failure to Maintain Required Narcotic Accountability Signatures on Medication Carts
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors found that the facility failed to properly track and secure controlled medications on both the South Hall and North Hall medication carts. During a medication cart audit on the South Hall, the narcotic accountability sheet covering 2/1/26 to 2/18/26 was missing one of the required licensed nurse signatures on four separate dates (2/2/26, 2/4/26, 2/8/26, and 2/17/26). During a similar audit on the North Hall, the narcotic accountability sheet for the same date range was missing one licensed nurse signature on 2/16/26. An LPN stated that two nurses were supposed to sign the narcotic accountability sheet when they accepted or released the medication cart, but this had not occurred on the identified dates. The DNS also confirmed that two nurses should have signed the narcotic accountability sheet when accepting or releasing the cart and acknowledged that this had not been done. The report states this failure created the potential for undetected misuse and/or diversion of controlled medications and could affect all residents receiving controlled medications in the facility. No specific residents, medical histories, or conditions were identified in the report; the deficiency was related to the facility’s process for narcotic accountability and documentation on the medication carts used for residents receiving controlled medications.
We Help Long-Term Care Teams Stay Survey-Ready
We process and analyze inspection reports and plan of correction using AI to extract insights and trends so providers can improve care quality and stay ahead of compliance risks.