MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Office of the Inspector General recently reviewed the Memphis VA Medical Center and cited 27 issues.
A couple of the concerns dealt with medications.
The review reported, “Five crash carts had expired medications. Additionally from August to the first week of November 2014, there was no documentation of some daily inspections were missing dates and signatures.”
The VA responded to each of the concerns addressed in the review in a memorandum and said current nursing protocols call for daily checks of all crash carts.
It said that in light of the recommendations, the nursing service now requires each nurse manager to report weekly to his/her chief nurse on crash carts. The VA said it will do this for three months in order to improve.
The Inspector General’s Office also found, “The medical intensive care unit, the post-anesthesia care unit, and a medical/surgical unit (5 East) had one or more missed monthly medication storage area inspections.”
The VA vowed to make a similar change for this recommendation.
None of the veterans WREG spoke with Wednesday had heard about these issues.
“We don’t know whether we’re up or down in this situation,” one veteran said.
The VA would not do an on-camera interview Wednesday, saying its typed responses in the review were clear.
The review also addressed concerns surrounding surgical reviews, nurses being properly trained and cleared to perform electrocardiograms, and the need to submit required information about the stroke care the VA provides.
Click here to see the full review.
