Top 5 Medication Cart Storage Tips

1. Labeling

a. Ensure that insulin pens always have a pharmacy prepared label (the reorder sticker is not a label).

b. Write in and observe open dates for all medications with shortened expiration dates.

2. Cleanliness/Organization/Separation

a. Medication carts need to be cleaned routinely.

b. Clean and sanitize crushers, pill splitters, glucometers and counting trays after each use.

c. Separation

i. Resident medications need to be separated by either route or resident.

ii. Keep all items in their original vials, boxes, bags, etc.

3. Discontinued/Expired Medications

a. Pull all DC'd and expired medications from the cart right away.

b. Pull and swap out warfarin with the new order, even if tablets remain.

c. Discontinued narcotics still need to be under double lock and counted until destroyed.

4. Narcotic Documention

a. Use pharmacy provided stickers or fill in every space on the top of each page.

b. Sign out narcotics right away and use your full name.

c. Write in "To" and "From" when transferring a new drug to a new page/book and number books.

5. Security

a. Keep the cart locked any time you step away from it.

b. Place CIIs and CIIIs under double lock immediately.

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