Wisconsin Nurse Charged with Stealing Medication from 3 Nursing Homes
Failure to monitor and accurately document the disposition of narcotic medications intended for administration to residents may result in significant medication errors and charges of fraud when those narcotics are misappropriated for unauthorized sale or use.
Compliance Perspective – Stealing of Medications
Policies/Procedures: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Director of Nursing and Consultant Pharmacist will review policies and procedures for storage and tracking of controlled substances.
Training: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Director of Nursing and Consultant Pharmacist will ensure that staff are trained to respond in a timely manner to concerns about the misappropriation of narcotics and possible errors in the narcotics reconciliation records.
Audit: The Compliance and Ethics Officer should personally conduct an audit by reviewing the accuracy of the narcotic reconciliation process on each shift to determine if there are any inconsistencies in the records.
An employee at a Wisconsin nursing home contacted the police and reported that another employee had forged the caller’s name in the book used to track and account for the narcotic drugs given to residents.
When the police investigated, they examined the book and noted that the accused nurse had signed the drug Oxycodone out 11 times for one resident. The signature on the form did not match prior signatures of the nurse who reported the incident.
The accused nurse was interviewed and admitted taking the Oxycodone along with two other controlled substances—Vicodin and Lorazepam. She also admitted taking pills from the other two nursing homes where she worked.
The 36-year-old nurse was charged with four counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and two counts of misdemeanor theft. She has a court hearing on March 26.
