Immobile med carts

[horrorxgirl]

So my facility switched from paper mars to computer mars a few years back. Within the last year every battery pack for our computers has failed and the med carts are no longer able to be moved from room to room to administer meds because the computers cannot be unplugged. As you can imagine, passing meds to 30 people when you have to waste time walking back to the nurses station between every one is frustrating and stressful. We were told that the battery packs for those computers are no longer being made and that the only way to fix the problem is to order new computers, which nobody in admin seems to want to spend the money for. This is twice as frustrating whenever tons and tons of remodeling to make the facility prettier is being done around you. Most of these computers have been immobile for several months. Funny thing is, every time we bring it up at meetings admin acts like its new info for them, over and over and over again.

We've all been taught in nursing school to take a med cart room to room with you to decrease a chance of med errors. I've also had to do this while being audited on med passes by state. So my question is, can my facility be cited if state showed up? I know having a mobile med cart is good nursing practice in long term care facilities, but is it actually a law? I'm in Pennsylvania.

[Sam J.]

They have a window for their approximate return, which may or may not be followed. Once that window approaches it usually sets into motion all kinds of frenzied activity, and all kinds of 'magic' happens. I've yet to to see a single SNF suprised (or unprepared) by the arrival of a survey team, unless the survey was triggered by abuse allegations, and even then only if the abuse allegation was lodged without the knowledge of the SNF. And I agree with that for sure, CapeCodMermaid, for a surveyor to tip off a SNF about the actual survey date would be as productive (as in bye-bye job!) as a nurse calling corporate to complain about the DON, or anything else.