Barcode Administration, bulk items and cabinets

An interesting dilemma came up earlier today and I am not sure how best to solve it so I thought I might ask other sites what they do:

How do you handle multidose CII items that are contained within a controlled access cabinet when you have bedside barcoding?

- The nurses don't feel comfortable taking it out of the machine, bringing it to the bedside, scanning, then putting it back in the machine. (putting it back into the machine also causes it to credit)

- If a patient only uses 10-15 ml of a 30 ml cup, we don't want to regularly waste over half of the cup.

- We cannot leave the partially used container at the bedside.

Thanks,

Alan W .Chung

Alan Chung, Pharm.D.
Pharmacy Informatics Resident
Vanderbilt Medical Center
Office: 615.322.7101
Pager: 615.831.6269