Unlocked and Unattended Medication Cart in Resident Hallway
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a deficiency in the facility’s medication storage practices when a medication cart located in the long hallway between rooms [ROOM NUMBER]-119 was observed unlocked and unattended. At approximately 11:44 AM, the cart was found without any nurse or staff member in sight, while residents were seen self-propelling in the same hallway toward the dining room. The unattended cart contained over-the-counter medications, syringes, topical medications, injectables, prescribed resident-specific medications, and narcotics stored in a separate locked compartment, as later confirmed by an RN. At 11:56 AM, the RN was observed walking from the nurse’s station toward the cart and, during an interview at 11:57 AM, acknowledged that the cart had been left unlocked while unattended and confirmed it should have been locked. In a subsequent interview, the DON also confirmed that medication carts are required to be locked when not attended by the nurse on duty. These observations and interviews established that the facility failed to ensure all drugs and biologicals were stored in locked compartments for one of two medication carts.
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.