Passing meds prepared by someone else

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I am a new LPN and am starting my first job next week at an assisted living facility. I noticed that their Med carts have the meds set out in cups for each patient in advance. (Each pt has their own drawer, I think) So you would be passing pills not in their containers or blister pack that someone else has prepared. I don't know about this, it doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Is this common practice in ltc? I can't find info re : this on the web from my state standards of practice. If I want to prep my own meds how do I go about doing this without making things hard for myself with my coworkers or losing my job? What should I do? Any help would be really appreciated! Thank you

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

I assume this is not considered inappropriate in your state or by whichever agency does the credentialing, but it is certainly taboo in hospital settings. You have no way of knowing if the appropriate med, dose and time are correct. If the right patient gets it. If someone tampered with it. If someone stole something out of the cup. If a visitor walked by and took something. Really dangerous. If a nurse does not have time to give meds safely then management needs to deal with HOW TO FIND that time. This is basic nursing. How could you defend yourself to the BON if an incident occured?

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Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.

Agree with above. In addition, I have had people refuse this med or that one;how would you know which one was which.. Sounds like bad practice to me.

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Specializes in LTC and School Health.

I've worked in LTC and assisted living. This is NOT common practice. Don't give any medication that you did not prepare yourself. This goes back to the basic five rights of medication administration. How can you compare the medication without a label from pharmacy?

Talk to your supervisor about this immediately.

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

If you didn't prepare or set it up yourself, don't give it ... EVER! Also, if someone tells you that you don't need a witness to waste unneeded narcotic and control drugs, don't do it. You must always be witnessed.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I wouldn't do it. If the meds were prepulled but still in their blister packs/vials/etc, that is one thing, because the drug can still be verified. A random cup full of unlabelled meds, no way.

Even if it was the best nurse or pharmacist in the world who pulled them for me, there's always the real possibility that he/she made a mistake.

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No way... when I worked in LTC I would never have done this -and now, in a hospital setting, I need to witness the person pulling the med from the Pyxis or I would not give it. Very bad practice.

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

No way. Never ever give a med that you didn't prepare yourself. As Meriwhen stated, if the meds were still in their blister packs then I would give the meds because you can know which one is which. If they are already out of their blister packs, however, you can't verify which med is which. This is bad practice.

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Thanks for the input, it confirms what I was feeling. Now to figure out how to tactfully "rock the boat ".

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Where do things stand now?

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