Disposing of medication rolls with patient names

2 We are looking for a new innovative way to dispose of medication rolls/packets with patient info on them. Obviously they cannot go in the trash. This is mainly for LTC nurses, what does your facility do?

Thanks, Barb Last edit by QABSN on Aug 26, '13
we put our empty blister cards in the tote to return them to the pharmacy for them to dispose.

We tear off the (cardboard) top of the blister packs, where all the pt. info is and shred those. The rest of the blister pack can't be recycled here, so those go in the trash. On stuff that can't be shredded (plastic bags, bottles, etc.) we black out pt. info before disposing.

We had a "burn box" where the empties were placed and then taken to incinerator once a week at least.

Quote from NurseDirtyBirdWe tear off the (cardboard) top of the blister packs, where all the pt. info is and shred those. The rest of the blister pack can't be recycled here, so those go in the trash. On stuff that can't be shredded (plastic bags, bottles, etc.) we black out pt. info before disposing.

Quote from CT PixieThis is exactly what we do in my facility.Tear of the top w/pt info and throw it in the locked bin for shredding. Anything that can't be shredded, the info gets blacked out.

This leads me to another question, does your facility have a segregation program for "Hazardous Waste"? What do you do with the Warfarin bubble packs after you dispense the meds? Have you had training that they can be, "Acute Hazardous Waste"? Have you had training on "what is a Hazardous waste?" and what you need to do with it?

Quote from NurseDirtyBirdWe tear off the (cardboard) top of the blister packs, where all the pt. info is and shred those. The rest of the blister pack can't be recycled here, so those go in the trash. On stuff that can't be shredded (plastic bags, bottles, etc.) we black out pt. info before disposing.

Quote from CT PixieThis is exactly what we do in my facility.Tear of the top w/pt info and throw it in the locked bin for shredding. Anything that can't be shredded, the info gets blacked out.