Power crazy pharmacist-what can be done?

[MissPiggy]

I work in a small hospital that is in the middle of nowhere - as a result, there is only 1 pharmacist in the area that is willing to oversee the functioning of the pharmacy. She has written the policies & procedures in such a way as to revert any responsibility for pharmacy related errors on to the nursing department & this is tolerated by the admin because she is the only one they can get to work for them. It is pretty much the norm for the nurses to be expected to put meds for pts. who are going out on pass into the labeled bottles so that neither she nor her techs have to be disturbed, & if a nurse is not comfortable doing so, the DON does it. I have 2 questions:

1) Is this practice not called dispensing meds, & isn't this out of nursing's scope of practice?

2) Where & how would one go about notifying the Board of Pharmacy of this and other unethical practices? Is there a website where one could obtain this information?

I am almost afraid to post this, as she is a very vengeful person & if she sees this post I will most likely lose my job, :uhoh21: but I refuse to tolerate this any more, as this woman needs to be stopped. Thank you all for any help/suggestions you can give me.

[LPN1974, LPN]

Yes, you are practicing dispensing drugs when you put them from one bottle into another bottle.

I also work in a facility where we have people going out on pass all the time.

We are not allowed to even take one pill out of the bottle or blister card and put it into an envelope with that person's name on it. That is practicing dispensing drugs.

I would find someone to report this pharmacist to, if I were you.

She is going to get you in major trouble and she's not going to take any responsibility for it. Protect your license. Who cares if she's not getting any sleep??

I bet she gets paid alot more than you do. She needs to get her orifice up out of bed and come do her job.

[Jolie, BSN]

I don't know the legalities of this situation. But it seems very similar to nursing home patients who go out for a day with family. When we pick Auntie up for a day, the nurses give us her meds in envelopes with dates and times of doses. I've never really thought of that as dispensing, but I can see your concern. Maybe someone with LTC experience could shed some light on this.

[AtlantaRN, RN]

i worked at a small hospital, same way with 1 pharmacist...she would upload meds for 3 days on monday and if you didn't have your 9am meds out of the drawer on monday morning, she would write you up for a "medication error",

because it was timed for 9am...

I don't work there anymore, thank GOD!!!

linda

[SFCardiacRN]

Many home health RN's distribute multiple prescriptions into weekly pill dispensing "boxes". This makes it easier for patients to remember which pills to take on any given day. Hospitals may have different regulations however.

[MissPiggy]

Maybe I should add that it is a psych facility. Where do I report her to? Board of Pharmacy?

[nialloh, RN]

I don't know the legalities of this situation. But it seems very similar to nursing home patients who go out for a day with family. When we pick Auntie up for a day, the nurses give us her meds in envelopes with dates and times of doses. I've never really thought of that as dispensing, but I can see your concern. Maybe someone with LTC experience could shed some light on this.

I sometimes send pt's home with meds as their pharmacy is closed and they need 1-2 doses until it opens. Our pharmacy dispenses the meds and I hand them over. I would think it is the same in your situation. The nurse is only taking a dispensed med from a drawer.

[prmenrs, RN]

Find out (from your states website, probably) what the regulatory agency is for pharmicists. That is who you'd report it to.

[GLORIAmunchkin72]

We have done this in the past. What is the correct way to send meds with a resident going LOA?

Yes, you are practicing dispensing drugs when you put them from one bottle into another bottle.

I also work in a facility where we have people going out on pass all the time.

We are not allowed to even take one pill out of the bottle or blister card and put it into an envelope with that person's name on it. That is practicing dispensing drugs.

I would find someone to report this pharmacist to, if I were you.

She is going to get you in major trouble and she's not going to take any responsibility for it. Protect your license. Who cares if she's not getting any sleep??

I bet she gets paid alot more than you do. She needs to get her orifice up out of bed and come do her job.

[GLORIAmunchkin72]

I work LTC and would also like to know what the answer is.

Sorry for the double post. Didn't think the first one went through.

I don't know the legalities of this situation. But it seems very similar to nursing home patients who go out for a day with family. When we pick Auntie up for a day, the nurses give us her meds in envelopes with dates and times of doses. I've never really thought of that as dispensing, but I can see your concern. Maybe someone with LTC experience could shed some light on this.

[suzanne4, RN]

Actually depends on your state's pharmacy code. Just because it is something that has always been done, doesn't mean that it is legal to do.

And the pharmacist in the original post needs to be reported to the Board of Pharmacy for that state. I am sure that they would love to hear all about it.

[allele, LPN]

I'm not sure if it's different state to state, but where I work I can't send patients home with meds unless I have an order. I only do this if the patient is a late discharge and can't get their meds for that night or the next morning. But, like everyone is saying, our pharmacists say that giving patients meds is basically dispensing....which is out of our scope. Find your pharmacy board online and just write a letter to begin with to see if this practice is legal. If not, then you'll need to take the next step and report the pharmacist, or maybe somehow make administration aware that the practice is illegal. Good luck!! :)