How to Record a Dose Not Given in ElderSuite

📝 Overview

Dose Not Given is the window you fill in when a scheduled medication dose was not given. You choose one code letter for the printed MAR, type the reason in your own words, add an optional note, and check whether the prescriber or the responsible party was notified.

ElderSuite serves adult day care centers nationwide.

Open it from eMAR on the By Client tab: on the card for that dose, click ✗ Not given. The same shared window opens from eTAR as Treatment Not Done when you click ✗ Not done on a treatment card. The fields and buttons are the same; the title, code list wording, and printed record follow medications and the MAR, or treatments and the TAR.

Medications and treatments are maintained under Nursing Center. See How to Use eMAR in ElderSuite, How to Use eTAR in ElderSuite, How to Add Client Medications and Print the MAR, and How to Add Client Treatments in ElderSuite. This Guide covers recording that a dose was not given—or a treatment was not done.

⚙ How It Works

1. Open eMAR and Select the Client

Open the Nursing Center and click eMAR. On the By Client tab, select the client. The day's dose cards sit under To do, Incomplete, and Completed.

You can also reach the same By Client tab from Report Center → Nursing Reports → Medication Administration Record - eMAR (Monthly), then switch from the MAR tab to By Client.

2. Open Dose Not Given

On the card for the scheduled dose, click ✗ Not given. Dose Not Given opens as a modal window—nothing else in eMAR can be used until it is closed. The medication and scheduled time appear in bold across the top.

The window itself does not write to the database. It hands what you enter back to eMAR, and eMAR stores the medication administration record and repaints the dose card.

3. Choose What Happened and Enter the Reason

In What happened?, choose the entry that matches the situation. When the window opens, R - Refused is already selected and the cursor is in Reason (required).

The MAR not-given entries are:

• R - Refused
• H - Held - nurse judgement or order parameters
• N - Not available at the center
• E - Error or adverse reaction documented
• O - Other - see reason

The letter at the front of each entry is what prints on the MAR for that dose. Type the reason in Reason (required)—that wording prints beside the letter. Put a longer explanation in Note when you need more room. Check Prescriber notified or Responsible party / family notified when either notification was made; each checked box stamps the current time on the record.

4. Click Record

Click Record (or press Enter). eMAR writes the entry, reloads the day, and repaints the cards. The dose card shows the reason in quotation marks with your initials, and the monthly MAR prints the code letter with that reason beside it.

Click Cancel, press Esc, or close the title-bar X to leave without recording. The dose stays due.

5. Record a Treatment Not Done From eTAR

Open the Nursing Center, click eTAR, go to By Client, select the client, and click ✗ Not done on the treatment card. The window title is Treatment Not Done. The heading shows the treatment and its scheduled time. What happened? lists the TAR not-given codes—the same letters as the MAR list. The third entry reads N - Not done - supplies or equipment not available instead of N - Not available at the center. Everything else—fields, checks, Record, and Cancel—works the same way. The monthly TAR prints the letter and reason.

✅ Important Limitations

Every not-given code needs a reason. If Reason (required) is blank or only spaces, ElderSuite stays on the window with the message that a reason is required whenever a dose is not given (or, from eTAR, whenever a treatment is not done) because it prints on the MAR or TAR.

Reason (required) stops at 250 characters. Put the longer account in Note.

Once eMAR or eTAR has written the entry, that record cannot be changed or deleted from this window. Use Undo on the dose or treatment card: ElderSuite keeps the original marked void and makes the item due again so you can record it correctly.

Recording requires the same employee setup as giving a dose or completing a treatment—including Record Medication Administrations (eMAR) or Record Treatment Administrations (eTAR), May Administer Medications and Treatments, and a current License Expires date. Without those, ElderSuite blocks with Cannot Record Medications or Cannot Record Treatments before this window opens.

This window is for doses and treatments that were not given or not done. Use ✓ Given or ✓ Done when the dose or treatment was administered.

⚠ A Recorded Entry Cannot Be Edited

After you click Record, the not-given or not-done entry is stored. Wrong code or wrong reason cannot be typed over later.

Click Undo on the card. ElderSuite keeps the original marked void, makes the dose or treatment due again, then open Dose Not Given or Treatment Not Done and record the correct entry.

💡 Need More Help?

For step-by-step assistance, click Ask Eddie from within ElderSuite.