Ooops. Dropping pills.

[firstyearstudent]

I dropped a pill during clinical today and my RN was really nice about it and just went and got me another one. But last semester my CI dropped one and picked it off the floor and gave it to me to give.

What's the "official" policy on this, and what do you think is probably okay?

[steffiRN]

gah...I couldn't pass a "floor pill". You should definitely let your clinical supe know that your preceptor isn't using universal precautions...shame on her.

[UKRNinUSA, RN]

it :devil: depends -did anyone see it? does the patient annoy me? is it a controlled drug - that I need to jump through hoops to waste? do I have time to get another one?

[TazziRN, RN]

it :devil: depends -did anyone see it? does the patient annoy me? is it a controlled drug - that I need to jump through hoops to waste? do I have time to get another one?

Please tell me you're joking.......

[flashpoint]

If I drop a pill on the floor, it is history...I make sure I leave a note for pharmacy so that the patient doesn't end up being charged for both the pill that I dropped and the pill that they actually took (usually they end up paying for both anyway). When Prilosec was brand new and cost $8 a pill at the retail pharmacy, I saw a nurse drop one...she got one of her Prilosec from her purse and swapped it out for the patient...not exactly proper, but she couldn't imagine having to charge a patient for another pill because she dropped one.

[UKRNinUSA, RN]

re :Please tell me you're joking.......

yes I'm joking - but haven't you ever been tempted exactly for those reasons? come on fess up! I had an ER patient (well known drugseeker) the other day that refused the Valium that I accidentally broke in two while opening the packet -but I told him-" this is not a cookie and you are not a kid - if you don't take this you're not getting another one". Apparently a Valium broken in two does not have the same street value as a whole one (even if it is covered in saliva), so he wouldn't have been able to trade it for his drug of choice once he got back on the street. Who knew drug dealers had such scruples about the quality of their product (!)

[Mulan]

it :devil: depends -did anyone see it? does the patient annoy me? is it a controlled drug - that I need to jump through hoops to waste? do I have time to get another one?

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

While you are a student I believe that you should have a witness for anything you waste even a tylenol. One of the possible signs of diversion is someone who "drops things."

I have an essential tremor & at times I tend to drop tiny things. Those pills you push through the foil escape me often. :)