Unsecured Medication and Treatment Carts Left Unattended
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to keep medications secure and inaccessible to unauthorized individuals, as required by its own policy and 10 NYCRR 415.18(e)(1-4). During an abbreviated survey, a treatment cart on Unit 3 East was observed at 10:20 a.m. left unlocked and unattended near a resident room, with Nystatin cream placed on top of the cart. The cart was under the responsibility of one LPN, who acknowledged in an interview that the cart had been left unlocked with the medication on top and stated that the cart should have been locked, offering no excuse for not doing so. A second incident was observed on Unit 5 East at 11:00 a.m., where a medication cart was parked at the entrance of a resident room, left unlocked and unattended while another LPN was inside the room administering medications to a resident. In an interview, this LPN admitted awareness that the cart was left unlocked and stated that it needed to be locked, noting that they normally do lock the cart. The Assistant DON later stated that nurses know they should always lock the carts and that they were likely taking a shortcut, confirming that staff were aware of the requirement that carts be locked when not in the nurse’s presence.
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