How do you waste medications?

[WondeRNurse]

We are all aware of the controversy about medications in our water supply, especially after the AP's report earlier this year. What I (and other nurses I work with) want to know is this: How do YOU waste medications? What kind of meds are they? What kind of a facility do you work in? Where are you located? Are there state laws in your area that mandate a certain practice? And, what would you, if you could, do to improve the wasting of meds in your facility?

I know, this is a broad-ranged question, but it would be SO GOOD to know what we are all doing, and to see what Nurses can do to make a difference! :loveya:

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I would be interested to know this as well, and look forward to the responses. I don't know how meds are wasted, really, because I don't work on the floors enough to encounter having to waste them, thus far.

[ThatPoshGirl]

My understanding is that the meds in the water supplies primarily come from urine. The water prusification proceses can't filter the meds out so it ends up back in the drinking supply.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

My understanding is that the meds in the water supplies primarily come from urine. The water prusification proceses can't filter the meds out so it ends up back in the drinking supply.

I heard that, too.

[Coastie_wife]

From what I have seen working in LTC facilities in a few different states is: Prescription (non-narcotic) meds that are being wasted for dropping on the floor or whatever are thrown in the regular trash, if they are bingo cards of a resident who is deceased or discharged and is not a returnable med, those are flushed. Narcotics I have always seen flushed including in some facilities duragesic patches, other places I have seen duragesic patches thrown in sharps containers. The facility I am currently working at however, throws the duragesic patches in the regular trash. Not something I am comfortable with (and don't do,mine go in the sharps container, heard too many stories of drug diverions with use of patches), but, this is what they do. Every facility seems to do things a little differently, but for the most part it seems places I have worked at are still flushing the majority of wasted meds.

[shelly304]

I work in a hospital clinic. In march our new policy went into effect. All meds are sent back to the pharma. company. We have so many reps in the clinic each day, we box up the expired (or recalled!!!) meds and have it ready. Usually the reps do not want to take it, but it saves the companies money rather than shipping it back.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I hear about flushing them the most.

[RedSox33RN]

In our ED, we waste liquid narcotics in the sink, as per protocol. Pills are not as easy, so we tend to just put them in the sharps container. I've heard of people in some facilities actually dismantling a sharps to go after a wasted pill, but that's where we put them. There aren't enough nearby toilets to even think about flushing them.

[MikeyJ, RN]

If it is a liquid narcotic, nurses at my hospital waste them in the sink. If they are not narcotics, just put them in the sharps container. Some nurses waste any liquid medication in the sink.

[BinkieRN, BSN, RN]

We leave liquid meds in the syringe or draw it up in a syringe and put it in the sharps container. Pills in the sharps containers as well. Only sharps containers used to waste drugs are at the nurses station.

[MikeyJ, RN]

We leave liquid meds in the syringe or draw it up in a syringe and put it in the sharps container. Pills in the sharps containers as well. Only sharps containers used to waste drugs are at the nurses station.

Ah.. that makes sense to only waste syringes at the nurses stations.

[Turtle in scrubs]

This recently came up on my unit. A fellow nurse was wasting an almost full PCA bag of dilaudid. It ended up going down the water supply. Due to the large quantity this raised some eyebrows and started some discussion, but smaller amounts of meds are routinely wasted down the sink on our unit w/o hesitation.

With pills I put them in the sharps container. With IVP narcs I draw them up and waste the unused portion by squirting it in the regular trash. The empty vial goes in the sharps container. Non-narcotics I just draw up what I need. The rest stays in the vial and goes in the sharps container.

Wonde - Are you and your fellow nurses working on a research project?