Meds. off floor taste YUMMY!

amblessing · Sep 7, 2005

Yuck! I work in an OB/GYN floor and I won't even wear my work shoes in my car! I take my shoes off in the parking garage and change into flip-flops to drive home in. When I drop meds on the floor, I tell the patient that I don't want to give them this med because the floor is dirty and I go take out another med, wasting the original one I dropped on the floor. I have had patient's say that they will take the dropped med, but I insist on getting a new one.

So, just curious as to what everyone else thinks about this. I've seen several nurses drop meds on the floor in front of their patients, pick them up, and give them anyways. Is this common? I asked one nurse about it and she said that it saves the hospital money... but I was taught that's not proper practice. So what do you think about this and what do you do when you drop meds?
~Crystal

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 7, 2005

well, i must be a terrible nurse, because i have picked up pills from off the floor. generally, it depends on what the pill is, and where it fell. when i was in school i broke a vicodin in half, and dropped half of it on the floor while popping it out of the blister pack at a pt's bedside. i was like, "oh dear, i'll have to get another one, you don't want this do you?" he was an older man, and was like, "i don't care, i'll take it!" i was so happy, i did not want to have to go back to my instructor and say that i needed to get another vicodin. now, if it is just a vitamin, or something easy to just go back to the cart and get, i will get another one, especially if it fell in someplace disgusting. i have taken pills off the floor myself, never at the hospital, but the dirtiest place was at a hotel. i had the worst h/a, and i dropped all the motrin on the floor. i picked all of them up, took two without a second thought. also, one good thing to remember is that most people don't practice good handwashing, if you've ever watched pt's in the bathroom, most don't wash hands or only rinse, so they are very germy anyway, and the occasional pill off the floor is not likely to hurt them.

I would strongly reconsider your practices if I were you. I am astounded anyone would do this for any reason, especially someone who has any education as a nurse or in microbiology/infection control. I can't believe people are doing this; it's eye-opening to me as no one I know would.

Handwashing aside (and yes, it's important too), picking up meds from the floor and NOT wasting them, to me, is a reportable issue. I would report it, and I would want someone to report ME if I were to do it.

I too, have had the obvious displeasure of the house super directed at me at night for having to ask twice for the same med, thanks to dropping it on the floor or in a sink, when pouring or popping it. I don't care----it's the right thing to do and I have no choice as a I see it.

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Sep 7, 2005

well, i must be a terrible nurse, because i have picked up pills from off the floor. generally, it depends on what the pill is, and where it fell. when i was in school i broke a vicodin in half, and dropped half of it on the floor while popping it out of the blister pack at a pt's bedside. i was like, "oh dear, i'll have to get another one, you don't want this do you?" he was an older man, and was like, "i don't care, i'll take it!" i was so happy, i did not want to have to go back to my instructor and say that i needed to get another vicodin. now, if it is just a vitamin, or something easy to just go back to the cart and get, i will get another one, especially if it fell in someplace disgusting. i have taken pills off the floor myself, never at the hospital, but the dirtiest place was at a hotel. i had the worst h/a, and i dropped all the motrin on the floor. i picked all of them up, took two without a second thought. also, one good thing to remember is that most people don't practice good handwashing, if you've ever watched pt's in the bathroom, most don't wash hands or only rinse, so they are very germy anyway, and the occasional pill off the floor is not likely to hurt them.

While I am not anyone to judge if you are a "terrible nurse" or not....heck I am not even a nurse period.

But, the way I look at it is....if you went to Burger King and the guy flipping your hamburger meat accidently dropped it on the floor and came to you and asked "do you mind me serving it to you"................you would be appaled.

I don't see why passing out a med at a hospital would be so different. It is plain nasty and the person deserves a germ-free, sanitary and clean pill.

If you did this to me as a patient I would look at you like you were crazy. :stone

Good luck to you and I hope you do reconsider changing that.

LiliRN · Sep 7, 2005

Yich no...off of a HOSPITAL floor? OMG...I can't imagine if I knew someone gave me anything off of a hospital floor....pillow cases, sheets, nasal cannulas...everything gets burned. Those floors are nasty.

Sadie04 · Sep 7, 2005

ITA with SBE, giving meds to a pt after dropping them on the floor, even if the pt says he/she will take it, is unacceptable and should be reported. I would be outraged if a nurse did this to me or a family member. :angryfire

lpnstudentin2010, LPN · Sep 7, 2005

If any of my nurses had tried to give me any med off the floor i would have refused to take it. it is descusting

URO-RN · Sep 7, 2005

that's like pts who refuse to wear slippers while ambulating . If they only realized what disgusting things live on a hospital floor.

night owl · Sep 8, 2005

OMG no! I would never give anything that's been dropped on the floor to a patient. I've dropped many a pill, cups, med cups you name it on the floor. It all gets thrown away especially after what I've seen on those floors. It's just plain bad ol' nursing practice IMO to hand a patient a pill that's been where urine was at one time or feces, vomit etc. etc etc.. Some of our pts tend to spit where ever they choose and I've even seen a few snot rockets get launched and then make a splat landing. :stone The mere thought of giving the pt a pill from the floor absolutely nauseates me. :barf01:

NurCrystal22 · Sep 8, 2005

well, i must be a terrible nurse, because i have picked up pills from off the floor. generally, it depends on what the pill is, and where it fell. when i was in school i broke a vicodin in half, and dropped half of it on the floor while popping it out of the blister pack at a pt's bedside. i was like, "oh dear, i'll have to get another one, you don't want this do you?" he was an older man, and was like, "i don't care, i'll take it!" i was so happy, i did not want to have to go back to my instructor and say that i needed to get another vicodin. now, if it is just a vitamin, or something easy to just go back to the cart and get, i will get another one, especially if it fell in someplace disgusting. i have taken pills off the floor myself, never at the hospital, but the dirtiest place was at a hotel. i had the worst h/a, and i dropped all the motrin on the floor. i picked all of them up, took two without a second thought. also, one good thing to remember is that most people don't practice good handwashing, if you've ever watched pt's in the bathroom, most don't wash hands or only rinse, so they are very germy anyway, and the occasional pill off the floor is not likely to hurt them.

You mentioned that the patients hands are "very germy" anyway, well those are the patients germs... EVERYTHING creepy-crawly and gross is on the floor and I don't think the patient should be putting that in there mouth! So if you were giving the patient a vicodin and a vitamin and you dropped both of them on the floor are you just gonna go ahead and give him the vicodin and replace the vitamin? That doesn't make any sense. No matter how difficult it is to replace them, just do it... one day, someone is going to complain... and you may find yourself in trouble...

~Crystal

mandrews · Sep 8, 2005

So, just curious as to what everyone else thinks about this. I've seen several nurses drop meds on the floor in front of their patients, pick them up, and give them anyways. Is this common? I asked one nurse about it and she said that it saves the hospital money... but I was taught that's not proper practice. So what do you think about this and what do you do when you drop meds?
~Crystal

Waste it and get a clean med. We all know how clean the floors are at the hospital. YUCK!

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Sep 8, 2005

I think most are in consensus here...

Question 1:

What would a "prudent" nurse do if a patient med falls on the hospital floor, even if the patient states it is OK to take it?

Waste it and obtain a new pill.

Question 2:

Going a step further...what would a "prudent" nurse do if he/she witnessed another nurse dropping a pill on the hospital floor and giving it to a patient?

Report it!

Hey, this is part of established nursing practice (the majority of answers support this). A nurse is held by the legal and ethical principles of that license. A patient is not held by any license...so, it is a mute point.

Also, these questions would be the VERY SAME questions a lawyer would ask in a court of law if you found yourself there.

And if the lawyer wanted to be reallllllllllly mean, he/she could probably bring up the issue of assault and battery towards the patient by such practice...because it really goes way beyond the point of the issue negligence.

We could go on and on...but, the answer remains the same.

Waste it. Report it.

I'm almost tempted to close the thread since the answer is so very obvious, but I'm willing to keep it open for the sake of further discussion.

No flames, please.

Wolfie

cursenurse · Sep 8, 2005

As an ER nurse, you know better. Think about the stuff we get on our shoes when we're not wearing shoe covers. Blood, urine, emesis- think about what we bring in from outside. I wouldn't do that to a patient. They don't know how icky that floor is. -andrea

i'm sorry, i should have clarified. i have not given, nor do i think i would ever give an er pt a pill off the floor. i was referring to my extensive long term care, and short m/s hx. i know the floor in the er is beyond disgusting. i wouldn't subject a pt to that. in fact, when i see pt's allowing their children to put their hands on the floor in the er, i always tell the parents to not let them do that and to wash their hands. there is so much hep and hiv in my er, i do know better than that. :)