NAC449.15347. Pharmaceutical services.

     1. Each facility shall have a pharmacy directed by a registered pharmacist or a drug room supervised by no less than a currently licensed professional nurse. The pharmacy or drug room must be administered in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws. The facility shall have a full-time, part-time or consulting pharmacist who is responsible for developing, supervising and coordinating all of the activities of the pharmacy service.

     2. Each facility shall have and implement policies and procedures that minimize errors in the administration of drugs. The medical director of the facility and the pharmacist who is responsible for the pharmacy service shall approve the policies and procedures.

     3. Drugs and biologicals must be controlled and distributed in accordance with applicable standards of practice and state and federal laws.

     4. When a pharmacist is not available at the facility, drugs and biologicals may be removed from the pharmacy or drug area only by a member of the staff who is authorized to remove such substances by the policies and procedures of the facility, which must be established in accordance with state and federal laws.

     5. Errors in administering a drug, adverse reactions by a client to a drug and incompatibilities between a drug and a client must be immediately reported to the attending physician of the client.

     6. Abuses and losses of controlled substances must be reported to the pharmacist who is responsible for the pharmacy service, the administrator and the chief administrative nurse of the facility, in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws.

     7. Information relating to drug interactions and information on drug therapy, side effects, toxicology, dosage indications for use and routes of administration must be available to the professional members of the staff of the facility.

     (Added to NAC by Bd. of Health by R129-99, 11-29-99, eff. 1-1-2000)