The PCS is designed to make the administration of medication an easy and straightforward process whilst keeping the residents best interests at the forefront. The PCS will tell you which residents have medication due, which medication, at what time, in what quantity. All medication comes complete with a unique barcode which links that particular medication with the correct resident, and holds all the details of the medication so that you do not have to spend time checking which medication is due and whether you are giving the right medication to the right person. The PCS is a tool designed to take away all the hassle of administering medication, but it still relies on all entries being up to date so it is still best practice to know which resident should be taking which medication, and to update the PCS as soon as changes to medication occur.
To begin a medication round on the PCS you will first need to log on to the device using your unique pin number. Once you have reached the home screen, you will see a button showing in red named view residents with a number contained in a circle. This number refers to the number of residents that are due to have medication on this particular medication round. Below this there are 5 icons named due now, attempted, due later, away, and missing.
Due now is how many medicines are showing as due to be given at this time, this will be showing in red.
Attempted is medication that was due on the last medication round but the nurse was unable to administer for a variety of reasons, the reason will show up once you click on this icon. This will be showing in orange.
Due later are all the medications that are not due for administration, or have already been administered on this round. This icon will show in green and need no more action for now.
Away is a list of all residents who are away for the home for any period of time, whether in hospital or out on a day trip. This will be showing in blue.
Missing is a list of all medications that, at some point, have not been actioned when due on a medication round. These will need to be actioned as soon as possible. This icon will be showing in red.
The two icons that need to be actioned on a medication round are the due now icon and the attempted icon.
Select due now, this will take you through to the list of medication for residents which is due at this particular time. Scan the medication trolley box of the first resident you wish to administer to first and their details will appear, or select their name from the list. This can either be in room order or, preferably, by resident needs. Once their record opens there will be a red banner with the word medication and the time due at the top of the screen, select this. Scan the first box of medication for the patient, or manually select the medication from the list, and select either not given if the medication is refused, or add to pot if you wish to administer the medication. Do this for all the residents medication until you have actioned all the red items in the list. Then scroll to the bottom of the list and check any prn medications that are showing as white. medications need to be checked on each round to ensure that they are not required, these medications never prompt to be given.
If the medication is not required it will come up with a list of reasons why the medication was not administered at this time, please select the most appropriate of these and, if necessary, add a note to the patients records to explain this further. The add note icon is in the top left-hand corner of the medication list screen, next to the back arrow. At this point the PCS may prompt you to choose whether the user should attempt to administer this medication at a later time, or whether it will not be required. If the medication is definitely not required it will appear in green, but if the user should attempt to re-administer then it should appear in orange.
If the medication is required then once you select add to pot the PCS will ask you to confirm the amount of tablets to be given. It will also tell you the name of the medication, the strength, the form, the amount to be taken and how often. You are also shown how many tablets you currently have in stock, how many days of stock you currently have, when the medication was last given, and when the medication is due next.
If the medication round is running late then you may be asked to choose a round to allocate the administration to. It is important to ensure that you choose the round closest to the current time as possible so as not to leave too small a gap between administrations.
Once all items in the medication list have been actioned then select confirm pot at the top of the screen above manual managed. Once you select confirm pot the PCS will show a breakdown of the different medications that are about to be administered to the resident. This is shown as tablets, liquids, other, not given and missing. If there are any missing entries then select cancel and go back into the medication list and action these before confirming your pot. If the list is complete and the resident has physically taken all the medication listed then select confirm.
Once these steps have been completed for all residents you can return to the home screen by pressing the menu icon at the very top left-hand corner of the screen. Then select the orange attempted icon and check that none of these medications are due to be attempted to be administered again on this round. Once this is complete then ensure that there are no missing entries for your round by selecting the red missing icon. Just as you would not leave gaps on a mar chart, you should ensure that all items are actioned on the PCS. Once this is complete then place your PCS into the docking station, wait for the red light to appear on the top left-hand side of the device and press the sync icon.
Update: Version 6.2.13-14 implements a new feature that will affect the 'given' and 'not given' process. If a medication is marked as 'given' and potted, then the resident rejects the medication (verbally or physically) the PCS will automatically add the stock to the returns list if it is to be disposed of.
Controlled drugs
To administer a controlled drug you will need a witness, exactly the same as on a traditional mar chart, to verify that they have witnessed seen you preparing and administering the medication. The controlled drug record book must still be filled in as usual for legal purposes.
To administer a controlled drug you need to follow the same steps as with a non-controlled medication, except when you try to add the medication to your pot it will prompt as requiring a witness. At this point another member of staff will need to enter their unique pin number to confirm the administration.