Is that so ?

Nurses LPN/LVN

Published

As the Lpn supervisor of an ALF I became aware of the narc count being short 15cc's of a liquid narcotic. Called our DCS (director of clinical services, basically our DON) but got no answer, left a message requesting a return call so I called the administrator (also an LPN) and made her aware. Coming from an LTC background I expect staff with access to be drug tested and police to be called but instead got "oh, we'll fix it tomorrow". When I questioned the (in)action/response was told "oh that's not our policy". Im extremely incomfortable with this, is this because its ALF not LTC or something that needs to be looked at ?

Specializes in Home Health (PDN), Camp Nursing.

I hate liquid narc counts because they do tend to be inaccurate to a degree. I have never seen one off by 15ml but I have seen them go into the negative by 5 ml or so. ( on paper we had dispensed the entire marked volume of the bottle but there continued to be doses to be given) this was a repeated issue at our facility over 9 separate units. Our onsite pharmacy got tired of doing adjustments and told us not to stress so much. While I would be concerned about a discrepancy, and would want it looked into I don't think you are to the point of calling the police. Document and follow up, don't just let it drop but honostly even if you have someone diverting it's a long slow process to uncover and confront the issue.

It was a facility that was entering narcs into count when they arrived, removing them (to return when dc'd) and not securing them, bruises and skin tears not investigating or documenting. It was just...bad.

Specializes in Home Health (PDN), Camp Nursing.

So the real issue is everything...

It was a facility that was entering narcs into count when they arrived, removing them (to return when dc'd) and not securing them, bruises and skin tears not investigating or documenting. It was just...bad.

Yeah... run don't walk to the exit. Facilities are responsible to cover the costs of treatment for injuries incurred without the proper documentation. In CT it's called riskwatch. The state will have a field day during survey time and if I were you I'd be out of this facility before the $&@! Hits the fan.

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