Ideas for organizing scheduled medications

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  • #53728
    Jim Bird
    Participant

    If your camp is not utilizing pre-packaged “blister packs” for organizing your camper’s scheduled medications, what are some of the ways you have organized your scheduled meds for distribution? Last year I purchased 1000 small zip pouches which our nurses used to organize into am, afternoon, pm and HS meds per child for each 6 day session and stored in similarly marked plastic storage containers. This year I am thinking about purchasing plastic 7 day pill organizers, which can be had for as little as $1.80 each, so up to $8/child, but reusable and more easily marked with the camper’s identification. My camp averages around 25-30 campers/session who require scheduled meds, so that’s $200-240 invested for the summer. Any theoretical or real concerns about “contamination” from a prior camper’s medications? Plastic zip bags are theoretically a “cleaner” solution.
    Yes, no?? Other methods that have worked for you?
    Thanks for sharing your ideas……
    Respectfully, Jim Bird

    #53872
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    We have used condiment cups with lids, like the 2-3oz ones. This has been a really good system for last year as the year before nurses set up beforehand, but if the wind blew or someone bumped the table, disaster could happen! Last year, we used blue painters’ tape to put their name on the top or a sharpie. We reused the cups each day by administration time. We also had a system of symbols if they had a corresponding liquid or spray that went with the pills.
    We then stored these, once set up ahead of time for safety by the person administrating, in securable rubbermaid containers that were organized by admin time, then boys/girls or cabin. We have 350 campers per session and this system was really effective and felt much safer. One additional way we administer meds is to put names on the folding table with painter’s tape. Campers come up, state name, pick up cup, verify contents, and healthcare staff verifies meds. Once the cup was empty, we could doublecheck to make sure we had administered all the meds. This worked well as so many come at one time for meds. I can share pictures if that would help. Good luck!

    #53903
    Rachel Ganter
    Participant

    Our YMCA camp uses 7 day planners, one for each med pass for each camper.

    We use self-adhesive labels affixed to medication planners to document pertinent information. After each session, labels are removed and each med planner is sanitized.

    We have volunteer nurses each session, all medication planners are prepared by the nurses at the start of the week using the MAR and bottles to perform medication reconciliation. Medication planners are organized by cabin groups in gallon bags. We then store prepared medication planners in large lockable tackle boxes. The medications are then dispensed to the individual campers by the nurses after identifying each camper – the medication planners always remain in the possession of the nurses. Miralax doses are premixed by the nurses into juice or water just prior to the med pass. We use labeled oral syringes for all liquid medications and wash these after each use.

    Documentation for medication administration is performed after each med pass by verifying that the medication was administered (visualizing empty slot in med planner).

    You can find medication planners much less expensive than $1.80 each. A quick google search turned up some for $0.42 each. Try looking at companies that print promotional products. Or seek a donation if appropriate (like a local pharmacy if they use these as “give aways”). We are going on our 5th year with our medication planners. I probably toss 1/2 a dozen a year that don’t stay closed or the lids are broken.

    #53943

    Thanks everyone for sharing your experience with medication management practices. We love that you help support one another as we navigate the administration of large volumes of medications at camp. If Ok, I would like to share some key points that help with safety considerations and also remind us of the legal requirements for medication distribution. I am going to talk in general safety terms, but please know you need to understand if your state has limitations on medication practices and adhere to those practices.

    1. In situations where nurses are “repackaging” medications from the original container to another system (bags, cups), you are required (in most all states) to be labeling the new package with the 5 rights (patient name, drug name, dose, route, time). This can become a gray area quickly so we need to be sure that we are providing all the information from the original prescription on the new package. If we only put the camper name and time, we are creating risk for everyone and the potential for medication error.
    2. When repackaging, it is the expectation typically that the person who repackaged the medication is the person dispensing the medication. This means that one nurse should not be repackaging all the medications for the week on day one and having others administer. The nurse who is administering is responsible to know what each medication is, the adverse effects, and contraindications. If there are 4 pills repackaged in a cup, the one administering those medications should be able identify each pill in the cup for safety reasons. Back to nursing 101!
    3. Pill planners are not ideal practice for the same reasons mentioned above. We should not ideally be pre-packaging for the full week and it is near impossible to have all the necessary information on a small pill planner. If camps want to repackage medications (and it is allowed in your state) it most safely done on a daily basis – only repackaging for a 24 hour period. This prevents situations like night meds getting confused with morning meds and someone receiving the incorrect medication.

    We all understand the need to streamline the medication administration process and I applaud the creative thinking that we are able to do as nursing professionals. Please remember to know your state regulations – in some states only pharmacists can re-package. I think many camps, if for no other reason than large numbers of campers, do re-package. Our desire is that we do it safely and effectively and ACH is glad to assist you with this process.

    There will be our traditional Medication Management Webinar on May 10, 2024 – Free for All! Register at: https://allianceforcamphealth.org/conferences-and-events/
    Come Join Us!
    Best for Summer 2024

    #54063
    Mary Marugg
    Member

    Good conversation friends. Thanks for clarification Tracey. Some camp electronic medical record systems have the capability to print medication labels. The system I am familiar with allows you to choose a label size, query by camp or bunk area, choose which medications time you want included (breakfast, lunch, dinner etc.) You can batch print the labels pulling the information from the electronic health record.

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