medications at bedside

Nurses General Nursing

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if you walk into a patient's room and saw medications placed at their bedside, what is the proper thing to do as a nurse? do you remove it from the room, take the meds and double check its order, or make the pt take it?

what is the proper way of handling this?

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I would take it and check the order. Some patients are allowed to have certain meds or txs at bedside.

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I would take it and check the order. Some patients are allowed to have certain meds or txs at bedside.

do you mind giving me an example of which med that can be left at bedside? I had this question on an exam and I don't know if I got it right/wrong ... I selected the answer to check the order. Would it also be possible that you should remove it?

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Medications that can be left at the bedside must have a MD order stating that. Otherwise you must wait and make sure the meds are taken.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are asking about a cup of meds left there by someone adminstering meds..right?

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Obviously in health care it would be very limited to for example eye drops, cough drops, ointments.

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Did a prior nurse leave the meds or are they a med a patient is allowed(MD order) to have at bedside such as throat drops or nitro SL, saline eye gtts? I haven't seen as much nitro at the bedside in recent years. Personally if a patient needs nitro I as a nurse need to know.

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the question was very vague... it didn't state any "situations" . The question was " you walked into a patient's room and saw meds at bedside, what should you do?" and the answers were (remove it, take it & check order, have the pt take it) Ugh! is this even a good question?

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Remove it is the answer. Go to the MAR and find out THEN what they are and track down whomever left them.

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Specializes in MSP, Informatics.

I would say take it and check order. If there is an order to have meds at bedside, then you can take them back.

we get some of the regulars that come with their own mobile pharmacy they keep stashed away! And they don't see anything wrong with this!

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the question was very vague... it didn't state any "situations" . The question was " you walked into a patient's room and saw meds at bedside, what should you do?" and the answers were (remove it, take it & check order, have the pt take it) Ugh! is this even a good question?

That is pretty vague...but I would remove it.

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I would say take it and check order. If there is an order to have meds at bedside, then you can take them back.

Not on a test!

You never give meds you didn't pour yourself.

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Specializes in critical care, PACU.
the question was very vague... it didn't state any "situations" . The question was " you walked into a patient's room and saw meds at bedside, what should you do?" and the answers were (remove it, take it & check order, have the pt take it) Ugh! is this even a good question?

and this is why Im deliriously happy that I am no longer in nursing school

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