Do you send meds along on a Leave of Absence?

Specialties Geriatric

Published

  • by DPRN
    Specializes in long term care, school nursing.

You are reading page 2 of Do you send meds along on a Leave of Absence?

DPRN

60 Posts

Specializes in long term care, school nursing.

If you have a resident using mail order, would you have the resident "sign out" the bottles and "sign in" the bottles upon return?

CapeCodMermaid, RN

6,090 Posts

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

In one place I worked, we were allowed to give them up to 3 days worth of medications in pill bottles but for longer than that the pharmacy was supposed to send an extra bubble pack. The trouble with this is, most insurances only pay for a 30 day supply so there was always the problem of the extra charge.

noc4senuf

683 Posts

Specializes in Geriatrics, WCC.

We send them in marked pill envelopes. We do not send PRN meds even if they frequaently use them and tell the family they will have to be brought back for an assessment if a PRN is needed.

CapeCodMermaid, RN

6,090 Posts

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

I'm not sure you can have it both ways. If they are well enough to go out with a family member, how can you say they have to come back for an assessment if they need a PRN? My families would say Yeah Right....I'm not driving 2 hours or 5 hours or whatever it is so Mom can have an Ativan the doctor ordered.

Specializes in LTC.

great thread. My boss yelled at me because I didn't know the loa med procedure.

Specializes in LTAC, Onco/Hemo, ER, Clinic, Agency.

We send out the medications, even PRN Narc's for stays >overnight (ie weekend trips, vacays, etc). The RP signs for them akowledging receipt, we sign saying we gave it to them. EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS COUNTED. They are given their insulins should that apply, but no needles. If it's only going to be for a few hours, we don't play "catch up" we simply sign the MAR as OOP. Of course, our meds are dispensed in blister packs for the patient directly by the pharm. We have a policy in place that prevents our building using RX's that come in bottles that the family brings in. (Interesting huh?)

CapeCodMermaid, RN

6,090 Posts

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

What does OOP stand for?

DPRN

60 Posts

Specializes in long term care, school nursing.
We send out the medications, even PRN Narc's for stays >overnight (ie weekend trips, vacays, etc). The RP signs for them akowledging receipt, we sign saying we gave it to them. EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS COUNTED. They are given their insulins should that apply, but no needles. If it's only going to be for a few hours, we don't play "catch up" we simply sign the MAR as OOP. Of course, our meds are dispensed in blister packs for the patient directly by the pharm. We have a policy in place that prevents our building using RX's that come in bottles that the family brings in. (Interesting huh?)

Nurse Betty- Do you send the blister packs out with your residents? Is that what the families are signing out??

Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.
What does OOP stand for?

Out on pass

NotFlo

351 Posts

Per the board of nursing and the policy where I work, nurses strictly MAY NOT dispense meds. This is not in our scope of practice and should not be done.

I'm just wondering if prepouring is okay with the people who put pills into envelopes for the family? If these pills are outside of their original packaging the family has no way of knowing what is really in those envelopes. If their family member has any kind of adverse event while out on LOA it would be only too easy for the family to accuse the nurse that dispensed those medications of making an error.

Where I work, ideally we have enough notice to get LOA meds packaged from the pharmacy. If for some reason we don't get the LOA meds we do send the family with the entire bubble pack. We do an LOA with meds form that lists each med and when it is to be taken, and we write in the number of pills that were released with the family. The family brings back the bubble packs when they come back.

Of course we sent narcs and PRNs too. I can't see how a patient that has been getting ativan several times per day or needs pain medication would be required to come back for an assessment to get them. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. When the family signs people out they are taking responsibility for them: for feeding them, washing them, keeping them safe and providing their medications.

Specializes in LTAC, Onco/Hemo, ER, Clinic, Agency.
Nurse Betty- Do you send the blister packs out with your residents? Is that what the families are signing out??

Yeppers. The only time it becomes interesting (and it does happen) is when a resident is signed out by a friend/family without the RP present, and that particular person is very into how many Narcs the resident has. In recent weeks, another issue that has presented is the misuse of certain drugs.( Res. "A" thought she had chest pain 10/10, took Nitrostat...then c/o ha...fam wanted to take res "A" to the ER...res "a" got to the ER, family never notified facility, ER nurse calls me and says so-and-so is loaded with BM so I'm sending her back with a new RX of lactolouse and Prilosec. Hmmm) The way I look at it as far as dispensing the drugs is that I am not dispensing them, but transffering place of ownership albiet temporarily. I believe that if the drugs are in their original packaging with resident name, there is no issue. However, there's no way in h-e-double hockey sticks, I'd be popping the pills into different envelopes, too many uncontrolled variables there. Some serious, some not..too risky. What I do know, is that in our Med Room, we have signs from the State Pharm. Commission/Board (whichever) allowing us to dispense certain meds because of the E-Kit....food for thought.

DPRN

60 Posts

Specializes in long term care, school nursing.

Thank you for providing answers that I was looking for. I like how you send the bubble packs when no notice is received. Thanks again.

Per the board of nursing and the policy where I work, nurses strictly MAY NOT dispense meds. This is not in our scope of practice and should not be done.

I'm just wondering if prepouring is okay with the people who put pills into envelopes for the family? If these pills are outside of their original packaging the family has no way of knowing what is really in those envelopes. If their family member has any kind of adverse event while out on LOA it would be only too easy for the family to accuse the nurse that dispensed those medications of making an error.

Where I work, ideally we have enough notice to get LOA meds packaged from the pharmacy. If for some reason we don't get the LOA meds we do send the family with the entire bubble pack. We do an LOA with meds form that lists each med and when it is to be taken, and we write in the number of pills that were released with the family. The family brings back the bubble packs when they come back.

Of course we sent narcs and PRNs too. I can't see how a patient that has been getting ativan several times per day or needs pain medication would be required to come back for an assessment to get them. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. When the family signs people out they are taking responsibility for them: for feeding them, washing them, keeping them safe and providing their medications.

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