Overfilled Sharps Container on Medication Cart
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain a safe and functional environment when a sharps container on one of two medication carts was allowed to become overfilled. On two separate observations, the sharps container on the South Hall medication cart was noted to be filled past the indicated full line, and the flip-top lid was not freely movable. During an interview, a licensed practical nurse acknowledged that the sharps container should have been changed when it was full but had not been. In a separate interview, the Administrator also confirmed that the sharps containers were expected to be changed when full and that this had not occurred. This deficiency involved the medication cart area and sharps disposal system used by staff, with no specific residents identified in the report. The failure was noted by surveyors on multiple days and confirmed by both nursing and administrative staff as not meeting the facility’s own expectations for timely replacement of full sharps containers.
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