ChartFlow Publishing
Does your region still use paper Controlled Substance Logs to trade controlled drugs? Great news! We’ve created a free lesson plan to use in your skills lab so students can get comfortable doing controlled drug counts.
When we were creating our Medication Aide Course-in-a-Box we realized that some regions still use paper controlled substance logs rather than medication cabinets with digital logs. Because recording information on a Controlled Substance Log is still taught as a skill in some regions, we decided to make this lesson plan free. You can use this for all levels of healthcare professional including LPN/LVN, RN, and more.
Below you can find our lesson plan, controlled substance log template, and medication label to use in your classroom or lab.
If you’re already using ChartFlow at your school, simply add the “Controlled Substance Log” activity to your course. You’ll find a link to the lesson plan in the Instructor Notes. If you’re not using our site, don’t worry! You can still use this activity without the electronic component.
Check out the lesson plan here.
What you’ll need:
- Printed controlled substance log from ChartFlow.
- Hydrocodone-acetaminophen Practi-meds™ from Wallcur, or your own simulated medication. We have an article on how to create your own meds here.
- Locked medication cabinet
- If using ChartFlow, add the “Controlled Medication Log” template activity to your student’s course. This activity has a patient chart set up for Boonsri Parawat including an order for hydrocodone-acetaminophen.
- Note: This patient is also used in our “Medication Refusal” template activity. If you would like an ongoing patient scenario, we suggest doing the first part of this lab, then do the Medication Refusal activity during your next class or lab, then complete the second portion of this lab.
- Printed prescription label adhered to medication packaging. You can create your own or use the one below which can be scanned in ChartFlow for medication administration:
After you’re all setup, follow the lesson plan to have students physically record a newly received medication in the Controlled Substance Log. They can use the information on the prescription label, and the Orders section in ChartFlow to verify the information. If you’re not using ChartFlow already, simply use the prescription label as your only reference point.
Then, after a short break, have students separate into pairs and do a controlled medication count at a simulated shift change. This will help them get used to tracking controlled substances so they are confident when they enter a long-term care facility and need to record medications on a daily basis. This is a great way to make sure they’re not intimidated by this process in the real world.