Crushing Pills?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I have been working in a nursing home temporarily for the last month until I can start my home health job.

Prior to this I was working in a hospital- mostly giving IV/PO whole meds.

Anyways,

In nursing homes-

I have to crush a lot of pills-

Is there any way the dust can get into your system?

I know this might sound crazy. however, I've noticed when I a certain pill for GERD- i smell mint.

Just wondering....:nurse:

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
Just wondering what type of crushing system you use?

yrs ago we used the two paper cup method and now we use the Silent Knight..you put the pills in a little plastic bag and it crushes it.

Very little dust either way.

How about asking a pharm?

We also use the Silent Knight-those plastic envelopes can be a bit tricky.You have to make sure you get every last speck of the meds out of them.By the time you are done "plicking" at them you have liberated plenty of dust. FYI-crushed meds taste awful-it's a wonder we get as many down our resident as we do.Try crushing a couple of tylenol and mix them with some applesauce or pudding....eeewwww.

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Specializes in Government.

I hope this isn't off topic....many years ago when I was working a hopping peds unit it was decided to discontinue RT on nights. Therefore each nurse got stuck with a whole hatful of albuterol nebs each night. They were 24 and 06 so you ended up doing 2 rounds. The hospital required the RN to stay at the bedside throughout the entire treatment. After the first night my heart began racing and I felt sick as a dog. I called OSHA and was eventually told that with the number of treatments we were giving we were getting a therapeutic+ dose every shift. We were fit tested for respirators and I never had a problem again.

Just an example of how aerosolized meds can impact the caregiver.

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Specializes in HCA, Physch, WC, Management.

Didn't bother to read any further but wondered if anyone was wearing a face mask while crushing pills if they were concerned?

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We use the Silent Knight too and we have baggies that seal at the top so dust isn't a problem during crushing. I always try to avoid inhaling the dust when I am shaking it into the med cup.

Just wondering what type of crushing system you use?

yrs ago we used the two paper cup method and now we use the Silent Knight..you put the pills in a little plastic bag and it crushes it.

Very little dust either way.

How about asking a pharm?

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
Didn't bother to read any further but wondered if anyone was wearing a face mask while crushing pills if they were concerned?

I have not worn a face mask-and don't plan on doing so.I think the answer in LTC lies with obtaining the meds in liquid form when available and d/c ing those that aren't. -I can imagine trying to pass meds to 20 or 30 residents within the legal time frame with the cheap masks we have.

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