Policy Manual sample

MDT Home Health Care Agency, Inc. DRUG CLASSIFICATIONS AND ROUTES THAT ARE NOT APPROVED FOR ADMINISTRATION POLICY: To improve management of medications in the home setting No medication shall be given to any patients unless ordered by a physician or individual authorized under state law to prescribe medications. Ordered medications shall be administered unless the patients refuses or exhibits symptoms that contraindicate medication administration. If a medication is not administered, the staff member responsible for administering the medication shall document in the patient’s record why the medication was not administered, and make a report to the Physician and the Agency. Telephone orders shall not be accepted by a person other than a Director of Nursing, Clinical Manager or Physician except that a licensed health professional may receive, document and date medication orders concerning his or her specific discipline, to the extent permitted by applicable licensing laws. If orders are given by telephone, they shall be recorded with the prescriber’s name and the date, and the order signed by the person who accepted the order. All orders shall be signed by the physician who gave the order or other licensed health professional with prescriptive authority working in collaboration with the physician. DRUGS NOT APPROVED FOR ADMINISTRATION: 1) The first dose of any IV medication must be administered under the supervision of a physician, where possible the first dose should be administered in the hospital prior to discharge to home health services. 2) First dose of investigational drugs must be given under the direct supervision of the physician. 3) Patients receiving drugs that have a high potential for causing anaphylaxis must not be given the first dose in the home, i.e., amphotericin B, chemotherapy agents. 4) The Registered Nurse assigned to administer IV medications shall be qualified by education and experience and shall have been assessed as being competent by the Agency. 5) All nurses supervising IV medication infusions in the home must be competent in anaphylaxis management, certified in CPR (preferably ACLS) and proficient in starting peripheral IVs. 6) Adherence to all other existing candidate selection criteria for home antimicrobial therapy is essential and must include knowledge of patient's complete medical, drug and allergy history, as well as a family allergy history. 7) If the patient has a history of allergy to the prescription drug, it must be changed to an appropriate alternate to minimize risk of anaphylaxis. 8 ) Any drug not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug will be administered by our professional staff. 9) Not medically necessary drugs or not prescribed or performed by or upon the direction of a doctor or other provider. 10) Blood components, we will only accept patients for infusions of red blood cells and platelets, and are transfused by Registered Nurses with prior transfusion experience or critical care experience (certification if required by state law/regulations). The first transfusion of blood components must occur in a controlled setting, i.e., hospital or outpatient setting, to evaluate the patient for any adverse reaction(s). Home Health Agency - - Skilled Professional Services D-66