dispensing medications

[9309]

Do you dispense meds, and if so, is it legal?

Where I work, we do it regularly, and it is apparently illegal.

A RN or LPN legally may NOT dispense drugs at any time. Dispensing means the pouring or placing of drugs from stock supplies into bottles or containers, the labeling of such items with the patient's name, medication, dosage and directions and the giving of such bottles or containers to personnel for administering to patients. This is the role of the pharmacist and may not be assumed by nurses.

It would be legal if it was packaged and labelled by a pharmacist, but it isn't. We package and label it ourselves.

Curious what others do.

9309

[RNcDreams]

Even if we send them home with a couple of percs, don't we still need to put them in a bag/container, labeled w/ instructions? And either way there needs to be appropriate patient teaching, right?

I don't really see the difference in the example between the percs and the amoxicillin.

My thinking is that the original package is speaking to the whole issue of not being able to take meds from a bigger container and then putting them in a smaller container-- they are two pills, in the original packaging.

I'm not measuring them and giving them out, I took them out of the machine and put them in the patients hand, with the paper that says on it "Take one every 4 hrs" with the docs signature on it.

The Amox was mixed, and has to be measured.

But, I see your point... either way the patient has to be able to either count out one pill or measure 30cc.

This is a tricky question!

[mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP]

I brought this up to the ER Manager and the Pharm. where I work and they claim that when the doctor writes "Two Norco 5/325mg home with patient for use at home, 1-2 tabs by mouth every 6 hours as needed for pain" that they are actually dispensing the medication which they are allowed to do and we are simply filling out the request of the doctor and taking off the orders - which both said if we want to get technical, it's the same as taking off every other order the doctor has written all shift long.

Considering our Pharm is a bit on the psycho side about everything in general, I'm sure he has researched this entire thing to death.

The closest 24/7 Rx is 45 mins. away and it's not feasible for most people. We do have a local Rx in town that will do emergency meds for us but we hate to call him for pain pills at 2 a.m.

I don't really like it and I don't really agree with it - but that is what my facility claims and I also live in a state where I guess it is illegal for an RN to dispense medications as well.

[sfsn]

I brought this up to the ER Manager and the Pharm. where I work and they claim that when the doctor writes "Two Norco 5/325mg home with patient for use at home, 1-2 tabs by mouth every 6 hours as needed for pain" that they are actually dispensing the medication which they are allowed to do and we are simply filling out the request of the doctor and taking off the orders - which both said if we want to get technical, it's the same as taking off every other order the doctor has written all shift long.

I think it's the same for us. I know we are allowed to give take-home meds because our hospital has a written policy for it. This must be the explanation.

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

I don't know, we had a policy....but, I never gave. NJ state law prohibits nurses from dispensing...I know this to be true because I was given a slap on the wrist for providing my own tylenol to a co-worker. It was construed as dispensing medication.

Now with our pre-packaged, pharmacy hand-outs ....it is different than giving single pills.

Truthfully, I often wondered if a patient had a reaction....I'd bet a million dollars that the hospital and doctor would not defend that nurse, only say that she knew her scope of practice.

Call me cynical.

Maisy

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

here in right pondia any 'supplying' of medication for a patient to take home has to be the pre labelled packages already made up by the pharmacy dept .. this is apparently legal as the pharmacist has checked it all you do is write the name on the label and gewt it checked against the prescription generated by the doctor or NP

... some of the antibiotic syrups need to be made up but come with a bottle of the correct volume of water ( keeps the aseptics guys busy if there's not hing else to do ) which we mix before giving tothe patient