Med Passes

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Do they get any easier???? This blister packs are from hell. Do all LTC use them and if not what do you use? I spend what seems like have my shift shuffling through hundreds of blister packs trying to find the right one. They are separated by patient but some patients are on 20 meds and then extras show up in the draw just for the hell of it. I'm a float so I don't even get a chance to try to remember what a patient maybe on because I'm not with them enough.

Like most LTC I have 30 patients and if I'm on rehab unit I get 14 patients but more acute needs.

It does get easier. Bluster packs are way easier than sifting through bottles of pills searching through the right ones. Hang in there

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

In my facility we do ytry to keep them in order with the MAR so please put them back in the drawer in that fashion.This has been discussed in nurse's meetings and it's done across the board.

Specializes in retired LTC.

OP 'floats' so her med passes are most likely to be more difficult (thus more time-consuming) as she has to work different carts behind different nurses. As someone who floated on occasion, just getting to know each cart's idiosyncrasies was TOUGH.

Bottles of pills ?!?!?! Anything that was generic at WallyWorld was stock at my place. There could be 2 dozen or so generics in the drawer all in white plastic bottles!

Refrigerated liquids?!?!?!? Who knew it was refrigerated - was the MAR flagged? Noooooooo!

Why is there a card of Inderal 40 (minus pills), but no card of Inderal of 20? MAR = 20. Med error?

And then what if you're following Sloppy Sally, Slob Nurse. Only 3 lancets left in the bottle and the glucosstix/glucometer numbers don't match, and there's no alcohol preps left. And she leaves yucky Dilantin syringes unwashed.

And the supply room is out of Ensure & Glucerna, so no wonder the med cart is empty! Did she tell me? Noooooo.

Etc etc etc.

I have to admit - there was one floor I liked how they set up their med cart and all the staff MAINTAINED its order. But...

Back to OP - med passes do get a bit easier when you get to know what all the bottles look like. And hopefully there is a good pt identification system in place. Doing a quick checkup for your supplies & stocking up BEFORE you start will help.

To ktwlpn - great minds think alike! I would try to keep the cards lined up too. New unused refill cards I would put in REVERSE behind all the bunch.

Without fail, when I floated, I would find all kinds of discrepancies that I had to investigate after med pass because it was the PROFESSIONAL thing to do. I was a new pair of eyes, so I would find all the problems.

Yeah, me!

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I prefer med carts with all the pills in bottles as opposed to those stupid blister packs.

With all the bottles in the stock drawer, try writing "ASA 81" or "TYL 325" on the top of the lid with a marker.

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I prefer med carts with all the pills in bottles as opposed to those stupid blister packs.

With all the bottles in the stock drawer, try writing "ASA 81" or "TYL 325" on the top of the lid with a marker.

If you write on the lids of bottles in Massachusetts, the DPH will cite you. Their thinking is you could switch the caps and end up with the wrong cap on the wrong bottle. And, we have to have meds in blister packs. Only the OTCs can come from bottles.

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

I have such pain in my hands from popping the meds out of the blister packs- I can't stand it.I pop ibuprofen or acetaminophen daily.Why can't they put the meds in PEZ dispensers?

We write on our lids...of course you should be checking the physical bottle as well.

In my facility we do ytry to keep them in order with the MAR so please put them back in the drawer in that fashion.This has been discussed in nurse's meetings and it's done across the board.

I could only dream of this. I tend to work much better with organization but not in my facility. Every cart is different and some just messy vs really messy. What makes med passes even more difficult is the fact that there are extra blister packs because they are ordered and not needed. So instead of just working through 20 cards there are 35 in the drawer under the patients name. if I only had the 20 I needed it would make things that much easier.

We have a separate drawer in the cart for "backup meds" which are new, unused cards of meds for when the resident is still working their way through a previous card of the same med. This keeps them out of the main med drawer but easy to get to when you pop the last one.

Specializes in kids.

We try to keep them in order of the med pass, sometimes hard to do when a med is given BID....We elastic together and turn around all but current doses of warfarin. We also have a back up bin in the med room. Not perfect but I much prefer the blister packs to bottles, we have those on the AL floor.

Yes they do. Yes it does. I like to sort thru the draw reading the card and read it and u can get an idea if its due he. Once all suspected meds are out then go by the Mar putting them back in as u go. Im happy if my Med pass takes less than 1.5 hrs, lol

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