meds late from pharmacy

[smartnurse1982]

I have not worked ltc in years but there are a lot of things I forgot about.

One question: a pt is on oral abt that were ordered yesterday afternoon. The afternoon nurse,thinking they were going to arrive in the morning,put 10am as the time to give it,since she thought they were going to arrive in the morning. Well, the meds arrived at 5pm.

Could I give that first dose now at 6pm and let them give the second dose in the am or should I just let them give it in the morning?(its a once aily for 10 days type abt)

[Nitengale326]

You should start the antibiotic right away. There has already been a delay in treatment and further delay could be big trouble for the patient. This is about care of the patient not convenience

[Nascar nurse, ASN, RN]

think of it this way, If you or a loved one were sick enough to go to the Dr. and get an antibiotic, would you wait 48 hours to fill the Rx?

Is there an emergency kit or something that the ABT can be pulled from? Is your pharmacy contracted to provide 24 hour service (if so they should be getting you that ASAP). If you can't get the med any other way, you must contact MD and get an order "May begin XYZ when available from pharmacy".

[Cobweb]

In our facility we give it when it arrives and then change the time written down to give it at the same time tomorrow, so 6 pm every day, in that case.

[NamasteNurse, BSN, RN]

agree with cobweb, but your facility will have a policy in place.

[stelarRN]

Our policy is that we must give it within 4 hours of receiving the order. We have an e-kit with most common atb's. Sometimes it is 2 days before the pharmacy delivers the meds. I can't imagine waiting that long to start an atb.