What did I get myself into - med pass drama for student LPN

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Hi all,

I am an LPN student in my senior rotation in an acute care setting (actually seems more like long term care patients). I have taken over my preceptor's patient load which can be anywhere from 5-10 people. I was taught to do the 5 checks and sign the MAR after drug administration which is what I was doing however, the narcotics are locked up in the med room and not in the med cart so everytime there is a narcotic ordered I have to leave the cart, run to find someone with the keys. dispense the narcotic, verify the med with another nurse, give the keys back, return to the med cart (which your not supposed to leave) give the med to the patient and sign the MAR. This was a crazy way to do things so I went out on a limb and bought myself a med tray. I dispensed the meds using the 5 rights in the med room complete with the narcotics and then took the tray to the patients and checked their names before administration. This was very efficient but apparently very wrong cause I got &^$#%& from everyone that it was "old school" and many med errors can occur this way. I took this as constructive critacism and chucked the tray. They want me to dispense all the meds and narcotics ahead of time and put them in pt. drawers of the med cart. Pre-sign the MAR before I give the meds out and then bring them to the patients:nono: . SO...can anyone tell me what is the right way because apparently what you learn in school is not how it is in the real world.

Starr:uhoh3:

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Welcome to Allnurses! Good luck to you!

For now I would follow the instructions of your preceptor rather than try to reinvent the wheel.

I work in hospital and generally pass my meds one patient at a time.

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Specializes in Surgical, Orthopedics, Urology,Er.

I would have to agree. Different instructors want different things so I would just follow the instructions of that instructor. Good luck:)

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I would do what you have to do to get out of school. In most hospitals nowadays, they use an electronic dispensing machine, commonly called Pyxis or some other brand name. Some hospitals even have bar coding for pts.

Just know the policies and procedures and follow them. Good luck.

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Thanks for the replies. I figured I'd better just keep my mouth shut and do what I'm told even if i don't agree with it.

Thanks

Starr

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I wish that they did have a PYXIS. I've worked with it before and it's great. I can see though how med errors could occur using their method as well. However you are right, I need to do whatever it takes to get through these last couple of weeks. I'll just be extra careful.

Starr

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