Are we slowly poisoning ourselves with meds when we crush them?

Chicklet2 · Sep 24, 2005

Should we be wearing maskes when crushing pills??? I'm about to start my first nursing job at a nursing home where i'll be crushing a good majority of the pills. That one post sure has me thinkin..........

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Sep 24, 2005

Also need to take into consideration some of the prostate oral hormone medications given to men w/ prostate problems - can't think of the name of it right now (can anyone help me with this). But anyway, pregnant women should not touch this med as it may cause birth defects in their unborn male children. Have never seen this warning come across from the pharmacy fact sheets, and no one ever really makes an issue out of it - but it is something to think about.

I think it's called Proscar...Massachusetts regs mandate a poster about it in every med room. And to one of the previous posters, why in the world are CNA's taking off medication patches?????

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Sep 24, 2005

We have a pill crusher called the Silent Knight...no, really ... it's called that. We have little plastic bags, put the pills in bags, put the bag on the end of the machine, pull down on the handle and the meds get crushed...one bag per resident...nothing to clean..no loose powder in the air...wonderful gadget and much quieter than that old metal bar we used to use

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Sep 24, 2005

Should we be wearing maskes when crushing pills??? I'm about to start my first nursing job at a nursing home where i'll be crushing a good majority of the pills. That one post sure has me thinkin..........

I don't think its necessary or practical in LTC.

When you are crushing your pills you place them in a paper cup, then place another one on top then crush. The pills should never come in contact with the crusher. This reduces the "dust" considerably.

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Sep 24, 2005

Another thing. Some OTCs will cause false positives. Of course there should be two tests involved. Qualitative and quantitative.
Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, some antibx, Nyquil, DXM, kidney dz, diabetes, liver dz, all can cause false positives. Many others as well.
Poppy seeds ingested ..... 25-40 Gm......about 1 or 2 servings of a poppy seed cake, is enough to case a false positive opiate.
Those highlighted on bold can definitely cause false positives for opiates.

This is exactly what I was taught when I was a pharm tech. :)

April_LPN · Sep 25, 2005

We also use the Silent Knight pill crusher. I like the bags and the crusher itself, but the one problem I came upon just the other night is when you squirt in the applesauce or whatever with the crushed pills, the particles can sometimes be blown up into the air from the apple sauce bottle. Make sense? And I got a small amount of dilantin up my nose the other night and it burned for about an hour, kind of freaked me out. I was fine though.

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Sep 25, 2005

How about having the applesauce or whatever in another cup and adding the crushed pills to that?

rehab nurse · Sep 25, 2005

i don't crush meds very often, but my coworker who works in ltc side is always having problems (most of her 20 pts are crushes). her nose will start to run, and she starts to sneeze and cough almost uncontrollably. we have old pill crushers and even though she uses the double med cup technique, the fine dust particles do float up to her face and bother her. when i worked agency, we had the ones with the little baggie and it worked like a charm. i asked about getting one of those where i work, but it's "not in the budget". i sometimes wonder about my friend if she's really allergic to something she's crushing, or if it's the powder itself just irritating. she always ends up taking a clarinex and that seems to help a bit. :confused:

Jubei · Sep 25, 2005

We have a pill crusher called the Silent Knight...no, really ... it's called that. We have little plastic bags, put the pills in bags, put the bag on the end of the machine, pull down on the handle and the meds get crushed...one bag per resident...nothing to clean..no loose powder in the air...wonderful gadget and much quieter than that old metal bar we used to use

bullcrap! we use the same crusher and I see particles floating out from those bags when you pour the 10 odd drugs you just crushed into your souple cup.

Jubei · Sep 25, 2005

i don't crush meds very often, but my coworker who works in ltc side is always having problems (most of her 20 pts are crushes). her nose will start to run, and she starts to sneeze and cough almost uncontrollably. we have old pill crushers and even though she uses the double med cup technique, the fine dust particles do float up to her face and bother her. when i worked agency, we had the ones with the little baggie and it worked like a charm. i asked about getting one of those where i work, but it's "not in the budget". i sometimes wonder about my friend if she's really allergic to something she's crushing, or if it's the powder itself just irritating. she always ends up taking a clarinex and that seems to help a bit.

That sucks. I hope she doesn't sniff that wrong drug and go into an allergic shock. I'm personally allergic to certain meds.

KrisV27 · Sep 25, 2005

I know a patient who gets thalidamide. And of course, it's to be crushed. Perhaps the nurses can babysit each others' "flipper babies".

GLORIAmunchkin72 · Sep 26, 2005

That is something to think about. I'm pretty short (about 5') and I do a lot of pounding at about nose level. I don't like the thought of wearing a mask but I don't want med residues in my system. I am very glad I work part time.

Should we be wearing maskes when crushing pills??? I'm about to start my first nursing job at a nursing home where i'll be crushing a good majority of the pills. That one post sure has me thinkin..........