Meds. off floor taste YUMMY!

Nurses General Nursing

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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

Specializes in LTC, ER.
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.

you've made a good point about the food thing. i don't want you to think that this is a regular practice of mine. as i stated later, i have a hx in ltc, and at times when a pill has fallen on the floor in the presence of the pt/resident 9 times out of ten, the resident will insist on taking it, generally i think it has something to do with them having a hx of wartime rationing, and the depression and all. i'm not saying this is something i would do in front of a state surveyor, but any nurse that has been practicing longer than ten minutes has practices that they would not do in front of the surveyors, it does not mean that that person is trying to or in fact harming the pt. we all have shortcuts, and things that we do in healthcare to save time and money, this is just something that i have done.

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Specializes in Cath Lab, OR, CPHN/SN, ER.
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. :)

And you don't have patients in on m/s that have hep or HIV? Does urine not get on the floor there? Do the ER nurses with nasty shoes not bring patients up to your floor, or do you have door mats before entering the unit (which is a whole nother thread right there-carpet)??? -andrea

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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

How can I go about reporting this when several nurses on my floor do this, as I think I stated in an earlier post.... I don't want the "wrath" of these nurses coming down on me because it's easy to find out who reported you... :o

~Crystal

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So I think it's almost unanimous that "pill off the floor" is bad! But what about a pill in the wrapper that fell on the floor, is that safe? Wouldn't you get the germs from the floor on the wrapper, then on your fingers, then they're everywhere?

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
you've made a good point about the food thing. i don't want you to think that this is a regular practice of mine. as i stated later, i have a hx in ltc, and at times when a pill has fallen on the floor in the presence of the pt/resident 9 times out of ten, the resident will insist on taking it, generally i think it has something to do with them having a hx of wartime rationing, and the depression and all. i'm not saying this is something i would do in front of a state surveyor, but any nurse that has been practicing longer than ten minutes has practices that they would not do in front of the surveyors, it does not mean that that person is trying to or in fact harming the pt. we all have shortcuts, and things that we do in healthcare to save time and money, this is just something that i have done.

I know you didn't mean it in a harmful way. :)

I am sure you do care and are a terrific nurse. Just IMHO, discourage doing it. You never know who may be watching or what or who will get you in trouble (even if you did not mean it). Take care and good luck. :icon_hug:

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
So I think it's almost unanimous that "pill off the floor" is bad! But what about a pill in the wrapper that fell on the floor, is that safe? Wouldn't you get the germs from the floor on the wrapper, then on your fingers, then they're everywhere?

perhaps you could break the seal and drop the pill in a cup and hand it to the patient that way. :)

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

the way I avoid dropping pills best, is to pop them over the bedside table of the patient, into a cup. She can then "pour" the meds from the cup to her mouth. I dont' even touch her pills w/my hands. I think that is a bad practice, too, JMO.......

If they drop, it's only on her table, almost NEVER the floor. Mistakes happen; we all make them. I just would treat the patient as I would my mom, sister, daughter, friend. I would not give any of those people meds that fell on the floor, so I would not do that to a patient. I agree w/Wolfie; the consensus is clear here. BAD PRACTICE.

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So I think it's almost unanimous that "pill off the floor" is bad! But what about a pill in the wrapper that fell on the floor, is that safe? Wouldn't you get the germs from the floor on the wrapper, then on your fingers, then they're everywhere?

If the wrapper is not opened, then the pill is not contaminated. Yes, you can tear open a wrapper without having your hands or the outside of wrapper touch the pill.

We use souffle cups, if I have to go any distance (like say med cart to room for instance), I "crush" the top of the souffle cup inwards to prevent accidental spillage.

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]I gotta go with YUCK! There are a lot of things I might do with my own medication, in my controlled chaos at home, but never with a patient. I recently had a nursing student report that is exactly what she saw a nurse who had bragged she had over 20 years in our hospital do! When the student asked me if that was okay, instead of freaking out, I asked her what did she think? And how would she react if it was her Granny? Of course she was certain she did not want that to happen to her Granny, so the lesson was learrned and discussed in post conference. All 10 students agreed. Now, let's hope they stick to their guns when they become RNs.

Rodeo RN

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So I think it's almost unanimous that "pill off the floor" is bad! But what about a pill in the wrapper that fell on the floor, is that safe? Wouldn't you get the germs from the floor on the wrapper, then on your fingers, then they're everywhere?

Well if the wrapper is a blister packet you could wipe it with a alcohol swab, then wash your hands... problem solved I believe.

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Well if the wrapper is a blister packet you could wipe it with a alcohol swab, then wash your hands... problem solved I believe.

That is what I was thinking. :yeahthat:

As an aside . . Speaking of unclean . . .I was in Olive Garden last week and went to the bathroom. While at the sink washing my hands, another woman came in and used the toilet and then left w/o washing her hands. :o

I saw her in the restaurant later holding a glass of wine . . . and I was thinking "yuck".

Even though our housekeepers are great, I still remember all the things that used to be down on the floor . . . . and I get upset when people let their kids crawl around on the floor too.

Just Say No to contaminated pills.

steph :)

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Specializes in NICU.

If I hadn't already thought this was gross, the disconnected PICC that spewed blood all over the floor today would have convinced me.

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