Letter to the editor: Dangers of pre-pouring jail medicine

In a recent Allegheny County Jail health care staff survey, there were 10 responses that spoke to the dangers of health care staff being forced to pre-pour medications on a previous shift, which they feel violates licensure and puts the resident at risk.

Jeffrey Leonatti, president of Reliant Staff, which serves our jail, has said pre-pouring medication is “unethical and against all nursing medication distribution standards.” Betty Snook, CEO of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, concurs and has said pre-­pouring medications is unsafe, and no circumstance warrants the practice.

There are three dangers of medicine being pre-poured on an earlier shift at our jail:

• Greater risk the resident is given the wrong medication.

• The nurse who dispenses the medication to the resident is subject to civil and criminal liability for the mistake even though the nurse on the previous shift is the person who made the mistake.

• Since pre-pouring medications is a violation of state licensure, there is significant danger that this violation can be a determining factor of people terminating employment at the jail.

The staff survey found violations of licensure lead to high staff turnover.

Our jail’s death rate is over twice the national average, and the absence of health care is a major reason why.

The jail administration is going after fool’s gold if they think they can force staff to violate their licensure in the short run but suffer the very negative consequences of high turnover in the long run.

John Kenstowicz

Morningside