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?

Yeah...don't take meds home in your pocket. I usually just use my back pack.

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Specializes in NICU/Mother-Baby/Peds/Mgmt.
On 4/9/2019 at 8:30 AM, 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.

Yes, I would keep a basket in my locker so I'd always have pens available. If you empty everything out before going home it'll all be there, and if you have the keys, pagers etc you'll see them. Or if you don't see them at least you can tell the next shift where they are when they call.

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Specializes in Med-surg, school nursing..

I had pulled two vials of Morphine once as I was helping a surgeon with a bedside wound vac change. We only ended up using one vial and he needed my help with other things so I put the extra vial in my pocket to waste later. Found it when I got home. The seal had clearly never been broken and I went straight back to return it as soon as I discovered I still had it. I did let my manager know as well as house and pharmacy. I was willing to be drug tested but since the seal had never been broken I didn't have to.

All that said to say this: Don't panic, it's not a narcotic, if you are that concerned you could've turned around and returned it. Or done it the next day. Always remember to check your pockets before heading out. Nothing worse than getting all the way home and realizing you still have keys, a pager, or meds in your pocket.

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Oh a zofran you’re fine. I’ve come home with Colace galore, one time an extra Xarelto came home with me lol. Agreed with everyone on checking pockets, a few times I’ve found morphine vials I still needed to waste (to which I did, they never came home obviously)

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Specializes in PACU.

In PACU, we remove vials of Fentanyl or Morphine not knowing if we will administer the entire vial or not as they are titrated to effect. Once the patient is being discharged, there is usually not another RN available to waste the remaining medication in the Pyxis, but we cannot put in our pocket or leave in the room. I have met with my manager about the best option and she doesn’t have a suggestion other than to carry it in our hand, or wait for another RN to be free. I am not going to carry the medication in my hand to the parking lot, so I hide it under the chart or something until I get back. i suggested lock boxes for labeled syringes in the med room, but she prefers not to as she is afraid staff would go home and forget to waste. She is not wrong. Any suggestions?

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I would tell my manager and turn it in. Zofran is not a big deal and they will probably just tell you to throw it out. Info you ever take a narcotic home you need to call as soon as you realize it and they may or may not want you to bring it in right away. That’s more serious as it will be documented as not given and it will be considered missing.

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6 hours ago, greener22 said:

I have met with my manager about the best option and she doesn’t have a suggestion other than to carry it in our hand, or wait for another RN to be free.

Wait for another RN. Seriously, just do the thing that leaves no room for critique. She suggested it herself. If it starts wasting too much time then maybe other suggestions will be considered.

I get not wanting to carry it out of the building (I assume you are escorting patients to their waiting vehicles), but leaving it unsecured is probably no better. It's only a matter of time until someone else finds it, and then you will have to defend either leaving it unsecured or else defend the fact that it has disappeared.

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Specializes in Stepdown . Telemetry.

No narcotic? No problem! Tonight’s accidental med pocket, guifenisen. Oops.

I better get back in my car, return to work and return it in the anonymous return bin, then formally write myself up for my grave deviation.

That was a joke. No one is tracking these meds and I have just spent 12 hours following high standards and keeping my patients safe and well cared for.

Rules have a purpose, but its not black or white. They are not all created equally.

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