Preparing meds in advance

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Specializes in Brain injury,vent,peds ,geriatrics,home.

Hi everyone! My first real post!!Might be long, but Id like to hear your opinions on it.I work on a large campus for children with behavioral issues.About 50 kids.We do have Medication techs that pass medications when the nurses arent there.Mostly psychotropics, mental health in comparison to physical ailments.Ive been in the medical field since I was 16. I have alot of experience under my belt and have been told by many people I am a great nurse,however I have a question which I know there is a lot of opposition.Here goes.. Like I said I work on a large campus.Kids are at the pool,garden,playground,gym,school,houses.therapy ,ect. I have found it is much safer,and more convenient to prepare the meds ,on my downtime,with no children in my face, calling out Nurse,!!Nurse!!Put them in coin envelopes,with their name on them,for the evening med pass when the kids are everywhere.I prepare the meds in a quiet room with no disturbances.Triple check at that time.I am extremely careful with meds.Almost obsessive with them.I do sign them off as I prepare them( I know youre not supposed to do that until you give them)Did I mention I am the ONLy nurse on duty all day ? I keep the prepared medicines with me until its time to give them. I also call out their names two or three times to ensure that child comes to get his meds. No one else is on the med cart until after they know the nurse is off duty and the med techs have to do the last med pass of the day.Opinion on this please??Also, the facility requires us to Prepare the 12 and 3 oclocks in med bxes for the week,and when a kid goes off campus, we need to pack them for the families.(Do you think this is legal)?Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated.I dont know anywhere else to inquire.Thanks so much!!

I dont do this all the time.

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Specializes in Brain injury,vent,peds ,geriatrics,home.
Hi everyone! My first real post!!Might be long, but Id like to hear your opinions on it.I work on a large campus for children with behavioral issues.About 50 kids.We do have Medication techs that pass medications when the nurses arent there.Mostly psychotropics, mental health in comparison to physical ailments.Ive been in the medical field since I was 16. I have alot of experience under my belt and have been told by many people I am a great nurse,however I have a question which I know there is a lot of opposition.Here goes.. Like I said I work on a large campus.Kids are at the pool,garden,playground,gym,school,houses.therapy ,ect. I have found it is much safer,and more convenient to prepare the meds ,on my downtime,with no children in my face, calling out Nurse,!!Nurse!!Put them in coin envelopes,with their name on them,for the evening med pass when the kids are everywhere.I prepare the meds in a quiet room with no disturbances.Triple check at that time.I am extremely careful with meds.Almost obsessive with them.I do sign them off as I prepare them( I know youre not supposed to do that until you give them)Did I mention I am the ONLy nurse on duty all day ? I keep the prepared medicines with me until its time to give them. I also call out their names two or three times to ensure that child comes to get his meds. No one else is on the med cart until after they know the nurse is off duty and the med techs have to do the last med pass of the day.Opinion on this please??Also, the facility requires us to Prepare the 12 and 3 oclocks in med bxes for the week,and when a kid goes off campus, we need to pack them for the families.(Do you think this is legal)?Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated.I dont know anywhere else to inquire.Thanks so much!!

Im just wondering why there were absolutely no responses??

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i think that you arent getting much of a response because you work under different conditions/laws than most of us......good luck

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Specializes in ED.

Don't home care nurses also prepare meds for the families to give? Like insulin's and stuff?

Do you get a chance to see each child and observe for adverse reactions to these drugs?

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I think it is fine to get meds ready in advance as long as they are labeled and locked up. Especially if it's the only quiet time you get to do it.

I work in group homes and we pack meds for when they go on home visits. We just put them in baggies. What are you asking is legal or not about packing them?

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Specializes in OB.

I would check your facilities policy and also state laws about controlled substaces. If there is ever an issue with a kid or a med the only thing you have to go by is policy and law, not what is most convienient for the nurse. If the policy does not work for you then talk to supervisors about changing it. You could get yourself into a lot of trouble if you are not following policy about controlled substances.

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I would hope that the regulations in regard to medication safety are reasonable and take into account the context of a given situation. On a hospital floor, nurses might be tempted to pre-pour meds but it's generally not allowed. Why not? Well, there are many distractions on the floor and you might not have a chance to get back to what your were doing earlier. Also, the patients tend to be sicker and their medications are likely changing so the nurse might be passing new medications/dosages which the nurse needs to understand and monitor the patient reaction to. In a different situation, where the medications are on-going, are long-acting and generally are self-administered, then it would seem that the rules could and should be different.

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Specializes in Brain injury,vent,peds ,geriatrics,home.

Thanks everyone for your responses.I know if I 'd worked in a different type of facility,which I have,I wouldnt dream of preparing meds in advance.You really couldnt anyways, if for example ,you had a lot of tube feeds.These are all oral route,no controlled substances.And i am there to assess,also the caregiving staff are very good about notifying the nurse for any odd behavior in the children.Thanks againAllantiques

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Personlly it sound to me that under the circumstances you are practicing as safely as possible. As to the legality of it. I would check if there are specific laws in my state that cover this type of situation. I would check my facility's policy on this. If there is no policy on thils I would write one and submit it.

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