How long should it take to pass meds to 44 to 45 residents

Specialties Geriatric

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My question is how long should it take to pass meds to 44 to 45 residents was passing meds to 50 residents before. I seem to always be behind due to falls and incidents at the facility. When other nurses say they get done way quicker than me. I work 3-11 and seem to finish a half hour after my shift but then no time for charting, and when I do I end up leaving way past 12am. Plus have to count narcotics with other nurse at end of my shift. 3-11 SHIFT AND 11-7 SHIFT NURSE ONLY COUNTS THE NARCOTICS. That tends to take a while also and I feel I am rushing through my med pass and feel overwhelmed and stressed. Is 5 min per resident too much time or how long for each individual. Then treatments ect. At night I go through 3 large med carts. When things arise such as very ill patients on hospice and alarms going off. I have to constantly stop. When passing meds cant find the nurse assitance cause they in rooms laying residents down to bed. So I have to stop what I am doing and take care of problems. Example.. sitting back a resident down in chair who is a fall risk and dealing with residents with behavioral problems and that in one unit. I pass meds to first floor and second floor and another unit thats dementia and Alzheimer patients. I pass meds from 4pm to 630pm then 30 min lunch. At 7pm I start the night med pass to 44 residents as of now. I tend to be the slowest to get done and not sure why and its becoming very frustrating to me. I am constantly getting calls from nurse assistants and have o stop and check on situation.

I have 80 residents, and it takes me an hour for supper meds, and an hour and a 1/2 for bedtime meds. I work 3-11 a few days every couple weeks. I'm usually on nights. I find with more practice, my times got better. No one likes interruptions, but I find even with a fall I can still complete my pass on time. You can do it - just will take some time:)

Im sorry but there is no way in the world to pass meds to 80 residents in a hour and a 1/2. I know what all my residents take and I dont set up my meds and I do my 3 checks and make sure they take the medication and some take longer due to having to crush meds ect.

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I guess this is how they want us to do this but I think all should do it not just 3-11 and 11-7....... 3-11 shift seems to get slammed with more work to do.

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I have 80 residents, and it takes me an hour for supper meds, and an hour and a 1/2 for bedtime meds. I work 3-11 a few days every couple weeks. I'm usually on nights. I find with more practice, my times got better. No one likes interruptions, but I find even with a fall I can still complete my pass on time. You can do it - just will take some time:)

Between looking at the MAR, opening the med cart, finding the med, pulling the med, locking the cart, walking to the patient room, and giving the med, the minimum amount of time it would take to just give a couple of pills would be five minutes per patient. For 80 patients that would be 400 minutes to do a simple uncomplicated med pass, which comes to...erm, about 6 and a half hours. Factor in multiple meds, narcotics, insulins, etc., there is simply no way that would be possible. Add in skin issues, falls, orders, finger sticks, dr. calls, etc. etc. I just don't see how anyone could work safely in a situation like that.

Something wrong with this picture. Or maybe I'm just not reading this correctly.

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Specializes in LTC.
Between looking at the MAR, opening the med cart, finding the med, pulling the med, locking the cart, walking to the patient room, and giving the med, the minimum amount of time it would take to just give a couple of pills would be five minutes per patient. For 80 patients that would be 400 minutes to do a simple uncomplicated med pass, which comes to...erm, about 6 and a half hours. Factor in multiple meds, narcotics, insulins, etc., there is simply no way that would be possible. Add in skin issues, falls, orders, finger sticks, dr. calls, etc. etc. I just don't see how anyone could work safely in a situation like that.

Something wrong with this picture. Or maybe I'm just not reading this correctly.

You are.. its just not possible. I dont get how 80 residents can get their meds especially when dinner time is in the middle of your med-pass. Never have I finished the 4:30 medpass before dinner.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

Let's say that it takes 4 minutes per resident. Maybe only 65 of the 80 receive meds (for argument's sake).

65 x 4 minutes : 260 minutes.

260 minutes is 4 hours and 20 minutes.

Clearly, you made a mistake here Angelic. The math speaks for itself. Unless all the meds have been prepoured, there is no possible way anyone of us could administer to that many residents in an hour and a half. It doesn't add up.

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Regarding those 80 residents: Perhaps they don't all get meds?

Just wondering.

DeLana

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Specializes in LTC.
Let's say that it takes 4 minutes per resident. Maybe only 65 of the 80 receive meds (for argument's sake).

65 x 4 minutes : 260 minutes.

260 minutes is 4 hours and 20 minutes.

Clearly, you made a mistake here Angelic. The math speaks for itself. Unless all the meds have been prepoured, there is no possible way anyone of us could administer to that many residents in an hour and a half. It doesn't add up.

4 minutes minimum. Not all residents are "ok heres your 2 tiny pills" and their meds are poured and given in 4 minutes. Most residents require more time, crushed, b/p parameters, apical pulse, g-tube, eye drops, those who need encouragement and reassurance that they should take their medicine and not spit it back out at me.. takes time.3

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I don't think I could simply walk in and out of 80 rooms and just say hi in an hour and a half. lol must've been a typo.

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Specializes in Psych.

when I was working 7-3 I had about 25 residents. My AM pass didn't get finished until almost 1030-11 sometimes. I had the same issue. But I pretty much had to sit down with the LNA's and tell them I couldn't do their job or mine at the same time. Because I had the LNA"S expected me to do all kinds of extra stuff they didn't have time for, but guess what neither did I. I was tired of leaving at 5pm everyday. So after that, it was wonderful to walk out at 330pm every afternoon, sometimes I even got home the same time the school bus did. A few residents medications took forever as they had this and that to talk about, that I had to cut out, One lady would be on the phone or fooling with her stuff in her room. I stopped waiting for her to finish and told her to come to me when she was done. I told the LNA's not to bother me while I was on the med cart unless it was an emergency, someone asked for pain medication, or truly "needed" the nurse at that moment. And if I was with someone to write it on post it unless it was an emergency. I worked with the same LNA's and new I had my point across when I heard one say to her orientee, Now don't bother the nurse unless......

It was a difficult transition to make but a nessasary one.

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Specializes in LTC.

I feel so much better about the time it takes me to pass my meds now. Thanks everyone. :)

Gotta say I have never heard of anyone giving ALL the 3-11 meds at the same time. That nurse needs a license revoked. UNSAFE! In some cases that is doubling up on BP meds. I wonder what the falls are at that facility....

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I have experienced having to give medicines to 45 patients and this was usually when someone called out, vacations, or we were between hiring someone to fill a vacant position. The thing I found most helpful was knowing my patients. I did not preset my medications. I did make sure my medication cart was well stocked. I reported to work 30 minutes before my shift. I would give the tube feeders there medications and others who stayed on the floor for breakfast their medications first while others were at breakfast. I would then have the carts placed strategically so that I could administer medications to patients as they returned to the unit. See if you can get eye drops administered by night shift when the patients are in bed. We have some patients that prefer to get their medications at 6am instead of 7 or 8 and we had the physician change the times for them. Look at changing the time of administration of drugs completely. Some facilitie like the 8-12-4, etc. some 9-1-5, some 8-2-8. Of course you will still have insulins and such that have to be scheduled at a specific time.

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[color=sienna]:nurse:well what i have figured out is it still takes me the same amount of time to finish night meds to 45 residents.. one unit it takes me a safely 2 hours and the other first floor and second floor another 2 hours.. due to bs checks insulin and some difficult residents that take forever to take meds. oh and some sick residents that constantly call for nurse for pain meds ect. also hospice patients that need checked around the clock. so thats a total of 4 hours. from 7pm to 11pm. i am usaully can get done at 11pm to 1130pm but problem is my shift ends at 11pm. so if i have a fall, or gotta send someone out or any type of emergency should rise then my day is gone... where is the time at for my charting and counting narcotics with other nurse at. because of this i am always leaving past 12am usually 1230 and bad nights 1am. this is crazy and i wonder why im so tired and drained. i cant seem to catch up on anything and i am now realizing its not me lolly gagging because that's how long it takes. i do not and will never rush cause the residents depend on me.

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