how many nurses....

I do. I start my morning med pass (For 28 patients) at 8AM or so, and usually finish at about 9:30-9:45. But then, I've worked the same unit for a long time, know my patients well, and have my med cart organized so that I don't have to spend time searching for things.

Are you working in a long term care facility. If so, what are your hours (shifts worked)?

yes, sorry i forgot to mention that...I work 6-2 monday through friday...

I work in a hospital and most nights I have 7 pts.. Some nights I do finish all 7 in an hour and some nights I don't.. I don't get stressed about it as much as I use too. Man, the obstacles to over come. Sometimes the meds are not on the unit, a lot of our pts have pegs and all meds have to be crushed and placed through the peg that has not been flushed in 9 hours and clogged up.. Some of my pts will only take one pill at a time and then they must be placed in applesauce.. I could go on and on.. So no, most nights I am late..

We don't have med carts and we can not pull but one pt's meds at a time.

Are you working in a long term care facility. If so, what are your hours (shifts worked)?

I work in a LTC / SNF mixed facility, I have mostly long term patients, but a few skilled that do require more meds, more detailed assessments etc. I work 12 hour shifts, so I get the great pleasure of doing 3 med passes a day.

Fortunately, the mid day and evening med passes are significantly smaller than the AM pass. . I'm also lucky in that our medical director and CNP are big believers in trying to regulate diabetics with Lantus / Levamir instead of sliding scale insulin coverage. I only have 1 accu check to do at 11A and only 5 at 4P.

I guess it's because im a new nurse that i feel like im letting the residents down... and then when they start crowding me i feel rushed...i know it comes with expierence but....MAN!! I hate feeling like im not doing my best!

I work in a LTC / SNF mixed facility, I have mostly long term patients, but a few skilled that do require more meds, more detailed assessments etc. I work 12 hour shifts, so I get the great pleasure of doing 3 med passes a day.

Fortunately, the mid day and evening med passes are significantly smaller than the AM pass. . I'm also luck in that our medical director and CNP are big believers in trying to regulate diabetics with Lantus / Levamir instead of sliding scale insulin coverage. I only have 1 accu check to do at 11A and only 5 at 4P.

yes the morning pass is SOOOOO heavy!.... the afternoon is nothing unless they are not on the floor... :)

We changed all but a few meds to be given AM or PM..no times. It makes things less hectic.

Never. On 3-11 I start the medpass between 3:30 and 4. I will finish around 7.

Really good article in ISMP Nurse Advise-ERR news letter. Google ismp.org/nursing, the Sept. 2010 issue. The article is about the "30 minute rule" for passing meds. The 30 minute rule "set nurses up to fail," especially with computers and bar codes. The article was very sympathetic towards nurses not being able to pass meds in a timely manner.

Hi there:

- Don't worry about getting the meds done within the hour time frame. As far as timeframes go, you definitely want to get your accu-checks and insulins out of the way (on-time), but the rest can wait.

- Being an RN (and having to do the med pass), means that if a patient falls, the med pass gets put on hold while I do the assessment, call the MD and family, etc.

- That being said, if you are passing out 7am meds, and there is a 10am med in the bunch ... give it along with the 7am meds.

- Personally, don't kill yourself with respect to the 1 hour rule. There has been many times when I am doing 7a meds as late at 10 or 11 am due to either falls, short staffing, missing meds, missing keys, admissions, residents without name bands, or just being an agency RN in a new facility.

- And yes, when working evening shifts ... I've had the med pass get started 2 hours late due to previous shift being behind due to sick patients, admissions, and falls. In that instance, the med pass went on until after midnight, even though it should have been done around 10pm. What does management expect when you have 40+ residents that you are expected to pass meds, do treatments, handle emergencies, deal with nut case family members, and deal with even nuttier management paperwork?

- Such is healthcare in the 21st century.

SirJohnny

Sometimes I do and sometimes I do not get my med pass done on time. It mostly depends on whether or not other things are happening and how much the supervisor wants to help when stuff happens. Usually they do not help, so I run behind. If the morning is good and all of the residents are happy and healthy then I get done on time. If I run behind I just make sure the TID and QID meds are given far enough apart that it does not cause problems and the time sensitive meds are given when they as ordered.

If they are going to give me an impossible task to complete I will do my best, but I will not compromise safety or skip meds just to get the med pass done on time.