I accidently took home a zofran in my pocket.

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I accidently took home a zofran in my pocket and didnt notice until I took my top out of the washer. what should I do?

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Nothing. It's not a narcotic so it won't cause you any trouble. No need to say anything about it at work.

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gosh thanks. I been stressing about it. Just a remeinder to always check my pockets!!!

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

No problem. And Welcome to Allnurses! ?

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

I always found Pericolace in my pockets when I got home. It was the med that got refused the most. Since they were given at 2100 - my busy time on evening shift - it was really low priority to put them back in the Pyxis. By the time I finished my charting and got out of there an hour late, oh well.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

I learned many years ago to give myself a thorough pat-down before leaving work! Every time, without fail. Saved me a lot of return trips with meds, keys, code pagers, etc.

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
18 minutes ago, Pixie.RN said:

I learned many years ago to give myself a thorough pat-down before leaving work! Every time, without fail. Saved me a lot of return trips with meds, keys, code pagers, etc.

AMEN! I learned that after driving almost home and driving back the keys. OP- sometimes we learn lessons where the impact is limited. This is one of those times.

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9 hours ago, MarqT said:

I accidently took home a zofran in my pocket and didnt notice until I took my top out of the washer. what should I do?

I have a different perspective.

I would bring it back to work and speak with the pharmacist about crediting it back to the patient to whom it was charged. If it were removed from an ADC I would "waste" it electronically in the ADC program and dispose of it as advised - the exact procedure for all of this can be advised by the pharmacist.

Don't put any meds in your pocket or carry them on your person regardless what they are. Subscribe to a personal program of (as much as humanly possible) following every rule of medication administration in real time. If the patient ends up not needing it - take it back/return it properly in real time, etc.

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Specializes in Oncology, OCN.

I was close to taking a metroprolol home but have been good about getting refused/contraindicated meds back in the machine. My struggle has been not bringing my spectra link phone home with me. Week 9 of orientation and I’ve taken my spectra home twice already haha.

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
4 hours ago, JKL33 said:

I have a different perspective.

I would bring it back to work and speak with the pharmacist about crediting it back to the patient to whom it was charged. If it were removed from an ADC I would "waste" it electronically in the ADC program and dispose of it as advised - the exact procedure for all of this can be advised by the pharmacist.

Don't put any meds in your pocket or carry them on your person regardless what they are. Subscribe to a personal program of (as much as humanly possible) following every rule of medication administration in real time. If the patient ends up not needing it - take it back/return it properly in real time, etc.

That's not something I'd considered by you're right, JKL. It's been a long time since I've worked in a hospital. The only things that get shoved in my pockets are usually gloves (for just in case).

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5 hours ago, JKL33 said:

Don't put any meds in your pocket or carry them on your person regardless what they are. Subscribe to a personal program of (as much as humanly possible) following every rule of medication administration in real time. If the patient ends up not needing it - take it back/return it properly in real time, etc.

Just an extra perspective... I have trouble NOT carrying meds in my pocket.

We are required to discard all partially used vials and pill halves in the black box in the med room. They don't have these boxes in patient rooms, because it wouldn't be safe.

I don't like this, but the alternative is keeping the pill in my hand, and running back to the med room to discard the med right after every med pass, and sometimes I'm just too busy. Patient needs the bathroom before I go, the alarm in the next room is going off... So I end up with half a vial of Zofran or half a metoprolol pill, and I've come close to taking them home sometimes.

(From a money/resources perspective, these are completely useless - that patient is only charged for what was administered to them, and pharmacy considers the rest waste and doesn't monitor it.)

If it's an unused vial that needs to be returned, or a controlled med, then I'm a lot more antsy about it and take it back ASAP.

It makes me uncomfortable to carry ANY meds in my pocket, but it's hard not to. Anyone else have this problem?

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Specializes in Nurse-of-all-trades, but mostly Peds/GP/PDN.

Tell the truth. Exactly how, why and when it happened.

Really shouldn’t matter what “kind” of medicine it is...it’s just a good habit to follow protocol/policy.

I am — for the most part — a ”policy-nazi” BUT after, justifiably calling out my boss (but not enough to get her terminated) my life became a living hell. EVERY move I made was scrutinized to ridiculous proportions.

Follow policy/protocol, and no one can — legitimately— fault you.

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