NAC449.74351. Pharmaceutical services.

     1. Each facility shall have:

     (a) A pharmacy directed by a registered pharmacist;

     (b) A drug room supervised by no less than a currently licensed professional nurse; or

     (c) A contract for 24-hour pharmaceutical service with a licensed pharmacy.

     2. If a facility maintains a pharmacy or drug room, the pharmacy or drug room must be administered in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws and must have a full-time, part-time or consulting pharmacist who is responsible for developing, supervising and coordinating all of the activities of the pharmaceutical service.

     3. 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 pharmaceutical service must approve the policies and procedures.

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

     5. 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.

     6. Errors in administering a drug, adverse reactions by a patient to a drug and any incompatibility between a drug and a patient must be reported immediately to the attending physician of the patient or the medical director of the facility.

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

     8. 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 R051-06, eff. 7-14-2006)