F0761

D

Unlocked Treatment Cart and Unattended Medications on Medication Cart

Bellingham, Washington Survey Completed on 03-18-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves failure to keep medication and treatment carts locked and medications properly stored and labeled as required by facility policy and professional standards. The facility’s policy titled “Medication and Flexible Pass Time,” dated 10/27/2023, required that medication carts be locked at all times. On the morning of 03/16/2026, surveyors observed the [NAME] Lane treatment cart unlocked on two separate occasions while the responsible nurse, an LPN identified as Staff D, was down the hallway at a different medication cart. During this time, unidentified staff were seen walking past the unlocked cart on their way to the dining room. When informed, Staff D acknowledged responsibility for the cart and confirmed it should have been locked, stating that the prior shift, which ended at 6:00 AM, must not have locked it.

Upon inspection of the unlocked [NAME] Lane treatment cart with Staff D, surveyors found an open tube of Derma Fungal cream and a bottle of simple odor eliminator in the top drawer, both labeled under their warning sections to be kept out of reach of children, along with other drawers containing various treatments, ointments, and creams that could be easily removed. Additionally, on the Artist Lane medication cart, surveyors observed a small open tube of Refresh eye drops placed in a plastic medication cup on top of the cart while the assigned RN (Staff C) was approximately 10 feet away at another medication cart preparing medications. Staff B later acknowledged that the eye drops should not have been left there and that the resident had refused the drops. In separate interviews, the Administrator (Staff A) and the DON/RN (Staff B) both stated that treatment and medication carts should not be left unlocked and that medications should not be left unattended on top of the cart.