Am I stupid? Med question...

[allthingsbright]

*stupid ?? follows*

OK, so I would never ever drop a med on the floor, pick it up and give it to the patient--but this last week I did tip the med cup over on the patients bedside table, the meds rolled out a bit, I picked them up w/ the cup and gave the patient the meds.

Now, I am a new nurse, and my little pea sized brain is telling me this is bad practice and that I contaminted the pills. But I have seen other nurses do this kind of thing and am wondering if I am being paranoid. And yes, I have been thinking about it ever since...

So my question: at what point do I get new meds from the pyxis? Nursing school would slap my hands and say every time--not sure what real world nurses do.

Duh!:icon_roll

[jmgrn65, RN]

Not really a stupid question. I think i would have done the same thing unless i knew or thought it was dirty. Giving meds isn't a sterile procedure. Clean yes, half the time the patients put them into thier hands and those certainly arent' clean. Well that's my 2 cents.

[ORNurseAngie]

I probably would have done the same thing. What do you think people do at home when they drop pills on the counter, i'm sure they take them anyway. I myself have dropped my teeny tiny birth control pill on the floor and still took it. I know I probably should not however I would rather take my chances with some germs than pregnancy right now.

[pattycakeRN]

I know I probably should not however I would rather take my chances with some germs than pregnancy right now.

:yeahthat:

[ERNurse752, RN]

I wouldn't think anything of it, as long as it didn't drop into a ring of dried pee left by a urinal or something.

I wouldn't use a needle/syringe I dropped on the bedside table, but a pill should be fine.

[allthingsbright]

thanks all-i appreciate the imput!

[Riseupandnurse]

I agree; I wouldn't have any problem using a pill that had been on a bedside table unless the table was dirty. If you walked in and saw a patient had put a cookie down on a reasonably clean table and then picked it up to eat, you wouldn't take it away and say it was too dirty, would you? Same thing.

[Burnt Out, ASN, RN]

If the table is clean and some pills fall out on it, I do pick them up and give them to the patient. I would get some new ones if they rolled into some sort of body fluid on the table.

[Nightcrawler, BSN, RN]

I would do the same thing

That said...... I think it is hilarious that we consider the table clean as long as the pill doesn't drop directly into some sort of bodily fluid.....

[purple1953reading]

Consider where the pill is put, MOUTH, enough said. Alhtough, there will be the patient who finds it offensive, or family member, if done none chalantly , no one will probably even notice. I have seen it done numerous times, nobody batted an eye. I have asked that the aides keep the bedside table clean and uncluttered, as this is where they eat. One of the things I do everytime I enter a room, while talking with, or answering questions, bringing meds etc, is cleanup that table. HANG IN THERE

[NurseCherlove]

I would have done the same thing as well. Now that being said, I have to say that I can't stand to come into a room and see a urinal full o' pee sitting right there smack in the middle of the patient's bedside tray.

Of course, where to put it? I wish there could be some kind of design for a urinal holder tray thingee near the bed - as long as it was not on the bedside table where they eat and have their personal items.

[NurseCherlove]

BTW, stop saying bad things about yourself (pea-sized brain)!! It is hard to bridge the "what you learned in school" to the "nursing in reality".

Good question.