Control of controlled medications

Regarding accepting medications in a bottle: there was a situation where I used to work at when a resident refused to take the house stock of a medication, and actually got an order from her physician to have her family bring in a bottle of the medication. It was in a different form (a capsule instead of a tablet). That was the first time I ever heard of that. I couldn't imagine trying to count narcs that come in a bottle.

I totally agree with you. Unfortunately, the policy allows us to use meds--including narcotics-- in bottles that are delivered by mail from an outside pharmacy (like the VA pharmacy). It doesn't allow family members to bring in narcotics in bottles that they had filled at a local pharmacy, though.

I think the whole policy is pretty crazy. Once that bottle of oxycodone is unsealed, who really know what's in there? I suppose that someone could take those 150 oxycodone tabs and replace them with a similar tablet, and no one would be the wiser. I wish that there was some law that this policy violated, so that I could have the policy changed. The administration obviously doesn't seem as concerned about it as I am.

Of course the administration doesn't care, they don't have to count it or get in trouble if the count is off. If the drawer gets to difficult to count, people will quit counting it, it will be off and some poor new by the book nurse will count it find it off then there will be big trouble. I've seen expired narcs, narcs that belong to long dead residents, 2 stuffed full narc drawers. Just land mines waiting to explode on some float nurse about 0630, at the beginning of a 300 pill med pass. I hate this outdated system