How do you balance your med pass?

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I'm a new grad (LPN) and have been working on a LTC unit with 25 beds for 2 weeks. I'm still feeling overwhelmed with the amount of meds I have to pass out, but am slowly getting passed it. My question is... how do you balance your med pass to be in compliance? I'm still trying to build speed, get into the "rhythm" and find that I'm still going over my time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

When state comes to visit, do they say anything about not getting meds out on time? How do facilities get away with this :confused:

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Specializes in LTC.

I'd rather see someone being late with their meds rather than early. I've been giving meds for many years now and I just shake my head at the ones who are done 20-30 minutes ahead of schedule. On my unit it's almost impossible.

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Specializes in Home Care.

If I tried to get my med pass exactly perfect with accucheks at 400, some meds at 430, some at 500 and some at 600 I'd look like I was waltzing with my medcart around the hall.

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Thanks so much EVERYONE!!! You all hit the nail on the head of how my typical day is. I work the morning shift (7-3) and that 3 hr window between 8 and 10 is nuts!! If I'm done with those meds at 11:30, I'm thrilled. But lately it's been 11:45. Throughout the day, I'm speedwalking (I thought I walked fast before, here I'm really speedwalking) and sweating like a pig. Aside from trying to be safe, I feel like I have the pressure on me from my superiors to speed it up and be in compliance and that's what I think is making me feel overwhelmed. I'm only there 2 days a week and I'm trying to do the best that I can. Although everyone tells me I'm doing well, I feel like I'm not (because of the speed) and am afraid of losing my job because I'm out of compliance.

If they ask you to speed it up, you only need one line: "Do you want me to do it fast, or do you want me to do it safely? You can't have it both ways." If they question why you can't get it done on time, suggest they shadow you - NOT HELP - just shadow you - for an entire med pass.

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If they ask you to speed it up, you only need one line: "Do you want me to do it fast, or do you want me to do it safely? You can't have it both ways." If they question why you can't get it done on time, suggest they shadow you - NOT HELP - just shadow you - for an entire med pass.

PistolChick- Your reply of " Do you want it done fast, or do you want it done right?" is the perfect response. When all is said and done, the only thing you need to do is give the right meds, to the right person, within a realistic time period. It doesn't mean very much if we have made a mistake on the meds, but, "Hey, I screwed up at exactly 4:00"......We just have to remember what our priorities are, make a plan, and then plan that it will probably not work out that way! I enjoyed your post. : )

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Specializes in long term care, school nursing.

To assist my nurses in being in time compliance, we adjusted some of the med times. Some morning meds are scheduled for 8am and others are for 9am for those residents that are not up early. It works on most days.

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Specializes in nursing home.

Being so new, I was stressing about med pass times. I have 2 halls, and you finish one in a decent time, you go to the other hall, and a CNA comes and gets you about a patient back on the first hall. It's like "argh!", because you were just with that resident 5 minutes ago.

I find the nurse who comes in next affects my anxiety, too. My stress level is higher for a certain nurse that enjoys "eating her young", that is my relief going into my days off. We talked about that at school, luckily. I try to put up a wall, but I do get driven into tears, sometimes.

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Specializes in None yet.

Are there any guidlines in the state of Florida about how many patients/residents one nurse is allowed to pass for?

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