what would be the"perfect med pass"?

Nurses General Nursing

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i am a lpn in a ltc in california, can someone please tell me what are the things i would have to do for a perfect med pass..i mean for example knock on patient;s door,check wrist bands, etc etc....i was wondering do we have to give patient meds one by one or can we give lets say 4-5 meds at same time...if patient likes it that way ???can someone please tell me some more things regarding perfect med pass....and perfect paper work if you can..i would really appriciate that..god bless!!!!!

Specializes in Hospice / Psych / RNAC.

Number one; there is not such thing as a perfect med pass.

Number two; If Auntie Helen can swallow 8 pills at one time and she likes it that way; after careful observation of her doing it that's perfectly alright IMO.

Number three; always check you meds three times just like you were taught in school.

In the end my friend when all is said and done; everyone and their mothers knows it's physically impossible to do the "AM" med pass complete with insulin shots, Metamucil's, pills, crushing pills, missing patients, etc... in a LTC facility within desired time parameters. Oh yes it is done but not without an extreme amount of planning, cooperation from staff and patients, throw in some luck and sure, it can be done. But most often you will go over from time to time. Let me stress this is for the AM med pass only. After that the others seem like nothing.

Good luck to you.

Specializes in Med/Surg.

You will never have a "perfect" med pass. Some days you will have to do the best you can to make sure all of your residents have their medications before the end of your shift!

Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Heh... to only have to give meds to about 3 residents instead of about 30. =)

When I saw your title I was having this fantasy...

I open the med box..all my meds are there, whole, not blemished, expired or missing. I walk into the patients' room. They are sitting with a glass of ice water and an ID band. No one interrupts me. I open each med, tell the pt what it is, and they swallow it, don't cough, and then thank me. Again, no one interrupts me. I walk to the eMAR, find an open chair, chart, and sign.

Specializes in LTC, home health, critical care, pulmonary nursing.

One where you don't get interrupted 800 times for stupid things. Or people wait to fall or have respiratory distress or hypotension or vomiting until you're done.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Tele, Psych.
When I saw your title I was having this fantasy...

I open the med box..all my meds are there, whole, not blemished, expired or missing. I walk into the patients' room. They are sitting with a glass of ice water and an ID band. No one interrupts me. I open each med, tell the pt what it is, and they swallow it, don't cough, and then thank me. Again, no one interrupts me. I walk to the eMAR, find an open chair, chart, and sign.

Ahhhh!!!! In a perfect world....;)

Specializes in LTC, Med-SURG,STICU.

Perfect med pass what a wonderful idea. Perfect paperwork nice idea too. Neither one will happen, but your heart is in the right place.Been where you are and done that, I gave up on perfect a long time ago and I am much happier for it. I just do my best to make an impossible situation the best that it can be.

Perfect med pass...one in which all the patients self-admin their meds!

Specializes in ICU.

A perfect med pass is when you don't have to wander from Pyxis to Pyxis to seek out the rare-exotic-in-tight-supply-IV Lasix (or whatever...), go to your pt's room, find that they have an ID band and your computer allows you to scan both the meds and the pt's ID band...you give the meds, and exit the room without any undue drama.

In a perfect world, that is.

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