Medication Policy: Missing Medications

Medication policies must be clear about what will happen if medication goes missing.

Make it clear in your policies of what happens when meds goes missing. And follow those policies when incidents occur.  This can be as simple as stating that, if a resident’s medication is missing, you will implement a policy that assumes that the resident has experienced a disruption in their recovery.

This is why it is critical that you have policies and procedures in place that educate residents about their responsibility for their own medications and ensure that staff and volunteers understand that they should not be handling resident medication.  It is also important that staff do not have access to resident medication without the resident’s being present.  If medications are missing, it is a serious issue, and must be addressed within the recovery home.  The resident must understand and be prepared that they are ultimately responsible for their own medication.