PinkPuffer3
New Member
Just after 9pm on October 25, 2007 RESIDENT A came to me and told me that when MEDICATION AIDE 1 went to give her 8pm pills she told MEDICATION AIDE 1 she did not want to take them until later because they make her tired.RESIDENT A told me she could not find her pills and she was ready to take them. I told RESIDENT A that I would help her figure this out after I finished passing the rest of my pills. A few minutes later, MEDICATION AIDE 2 came with a pill cup that had RESIDENT A written on it that had been sitting on RESIDENT B night stand. She told me that RESIDENT B told her that she had just taken those pills because they were sitting on her night stand and she thought that they were hers. I finished passing my meds before going to review the medication cart that had RESIDENT A pills in it. Each pill was signed out since MEDICATION AIDE 1 had already tired to give RESIDENT A her pills. However, since that medication cart is the one I usually work, I knew that there were important medications that RESIDENT A must take and I gave RESIDENTher 8pm pills, assuming that Harriett had taken each one. When I was trained on the medication carts, I was told that its procedure to make sure to watch each resident take their pills so I know that the right person is getting the right pills and no one else takes them on accident. I was also informed that once I give RESIDENT A her pills, I should also ask her to open her mouth to make sure she swallowed them. Since this information was told to me during my training, I assumed that MEDICATION AIDE 1 was told the same thing and she wouldn't leave pills for RESIDENT A to take for either of the above two reasons. I did not call MEDICATION AIDE 1 to ask her about the situation because I did not want to get involved with confronting someone about an issue that they could get them in trouble for. I ASSUMED that MEDICATION AIDE 1 had taken the pills back to the nurses station since RESIDENT A refused them and answered RESIDENT B'S call light, set the pills on her night stand and forgot to pick them up. True mistake. I woke RESIDENT B up and took her vitals to make sure that she was okay. I noted that she was more difficult than usual to wake up. RESIDENT B told me she thought she fell into a deeper sleep faster than normal as soon as she was awake. I asked her if she felt ok or if she felt funny at all and she told me no and that she felt fine. However, I took her vitals in order to make sure. They were normal . I called our Director of Nursing and explained the situation to her and told her what RESIDENT B'S vitals were. She told me to call RESIDENT B'S doctor to make sure that I filled out an incident report. I called the doctor's after hours and he called back a few minutes later. I informed him of the situation, noting that RESIDENT B was more difficult than normal to wake up and gave him her vitals. I also told him all of the pills that RESIDENT A normally takes that could have been taken by RESIDENT B. He told me that she would be fine, that she should sleep well tonight and might be a little groggy in the morning, but she would be fine. I filled out the incident report and then called RESIDENT B'S daughter to make her aware of the situation. Anytime we fill out an incident report the resident's doctor and family must be notified. I explained to her what I believed may have happened and she was very upset. I explained to her that our director of nursing was aware of the situation, her mother's doctor was notified and that he said she should be fine, that we would monitor her blood pressure throughout the night and the situation would be taken care of in the morning. I also left a note for third shift to check on her and her blood pressure several times throughout the night. This incident was charted in the nurse's notes of RESIDENT B'S file. During the night RESIDENT B was sent to the ER with extremely low blood sugar and low blood pressure. Her daughter is now trying to sue our facility. MEDICATION AIDE 1 said she left RESIDENT A pills on her bed side and RESIDENT A must have brought them into RESIDENT B'S room because they're friends and shes in that room constatly. This honestly could have happened and I believe her. MEDICATION AIDE 1 is so mad at me, even though either way it's her fault for not passing meds properly. What is the Michigan law regarding this. Does she or I get sued or does the facility. Can this even be taken to court since nothing can be proved as to how she got the pills? Or is this considered abuse? Thank you.
