How much trouble am I in?

This is too bad all around.

As a family member I would not be pleased, mostly because my LO did not receive their medication. My displeasure would be with the facility, much less likely the staff member.

As a nurse, this scenario is too bad. There's no perfect, easy answer. If you pocket the medications and then forget to return to the task, you can easily be accused of medication diversion.

I sit here and think, "you just have to make sure you return to your previous task when you are done handling the interruption." But that's very easy to say and life just doesn't work that way. Additional pending tasks will have been accumulating during the interruption such that now you're late for something completely different. Plus new interruptions will continue.

But... that's the only real thing I can think to recommend (unless you somehow have the luxury of summoning immediate assistance, which I doubt): Try your very best to make it your practice to recall and review what it was you were doing right before the interruption and then make sure you have finished that task before moving on.

Think it over so that you have something reasonable to say if you get the chance to discuss it with your supervisor. The answer will involve securing the medication one way or another and then remembering to go back and finish the task.

Good luck ~

I would have locked the meds. in the med cart and kept my med administration record book completely up to date right down to the last second as I was taught. I would have been mortified if I found out I had done this.