Insulin Pens
The CDC has published a reminder that insulin pens must never be used for more than one person. The notice was published in response to an increase awareness of improper use of insulin pens, and included the following safety tips:
Professional Caregiver Blog
Professional Caregiver – A Care and Compliance Group Blog for Assisted Living and Residential Care Professionals
Medication Assistance for Residents with Dementia
This week’s Tuesday Tip comes in response to a question posted on our blog. “Is a resident with dementia allowed to be retained in an RCFE when she requires her medications to be “fed” to her?”
Safely Managing Prescription Pain Killers
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported skyrocketing increases in deaths from overdoses of prescription pain killers. According to the CDC, 15,000 people die every year from overdoses of these medications – more than those who die from heroin and cocaine combined.
Medication Expiration Dates
This week’s Tuesday Tip comes to us courtesy of Sandi Flores Consulting Group, and is in response to a question often asked by new medication aides/techs: “If a medication label only has a month and year listed for the expiration date, does it expire on the first day of the month listed, or the last [...]
Assisting with PRN Medications
This week’s Tuesday Tip is in response to a question posted on our blog. Is it necessary to contact the physician before each dose when assisting a resident with PRN morphine?
Medication Error Reporting Policies
In several recent Tuesday Tips we have been focusing on the issue of medication errors. First looking at how to define a medication error, and last week examining how to respond to medication error. This prompted a response from some Tuesday Tip subscribers emphasizing the need for clear reporting policies within individual assisted living and [...]
Responding to Medication Errors
In our last Tuesday Tip we discussed the importance of defining medication errors so that they can be monitored for, reported on, and responded to appropriately. In this week’s Tip we turn our attention to the appropriate actions to take when a medication error occurs:
Administration of Medications to Residents on Hospice
This is one of the most common questions we receive from California RCFE Tuesday Tip subscribers: “Can a family or unpaid friend of a hospice client actually pour (draw up in a syringe), hospice drugs such as liquid morphine if they are trained by hospice?”
What is a Medication Error?
Over 80% of assisted living residents require assistance with medications, and research suggests that error rates could be as high as 35%. This stresses the importance of monitoring medication errors in your own community.
Oral Syringes
Community Care Licensing provided several important policy updates and clarifications during last week’s CALA Spring Conference, including one regarding the use of oral syringes. For some time there has been a lack of consistent interpretation from LPAs in the field regarding whether or not trained unlicensed staff members may use an oral syringe to draw [...]