Courtyard of Natchitoches: Unlocked Medication Cart - LA
The inspector found Cart X on Hall B at Courtyard of Natchitoches at 8:55 in the morning on September 16, 2025. Three of the cart's eight drawers were pulled open. No staff member was anywhere near it.
The inspector stayed with the cart. At 8:57 a.m., two minutes later, a licensed practical nurse identified in the report as S7LPN walked up. She confirmed what the inspector had already seen: the cart was unattended, unlocked, and had been left with drawers open. She said medication carts were supposed to be locked with all drawers closed whenever staff stepped away. She said the medications on Cart X were not stored safely. She said they should have been.
The facility's own medication storage policy, revised as recently as March 2025, is direct on the point. During a medication pass, medications must be under the direct observation of the person administering them, or locked in the medication storage area. The cart on Hall B was neither.
The Director of Nursing, identified as S2DON, was interviewed about the incident roughly two hours later, at 10:45 a.m. She confirmed the same thing the nurse had already said: carts must be locked when unattended to keep medications secure.
Everyone agreed on what the rule was. The cart was still left open.
The violation was cited under F0761, which covers proper storage and labeling of drugs and biologicals. Inspectors rated it as minimal harm or potential for actual harm, with few residents affected. It was identified during a complaint inspection that concluded September 17, 2025.
The rating of minimal harm reflects the regulatory floor for this type of finding, not a determination that nothing could have gone wrong. An unlocked medication cart with drawers open on an active resident hallway is accessible to anyone who walks past, including residents, visitors, and staff who have no business opening it. The inspection report does not document that anyone accessed the cart during the time it sat unattended. It also does not document how long the cart had been open before the inspector arrived at 8:55 a.m.
What the report does document is that a nurse walked up two minutes after an inspector started watching the cart, and that nurse already knew what the policy required. She had not locked it before she left.
Courtyard of Natchitoches is located at 708 Keyser Avenue in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Courtyard of Natchitoches from 2025-09-17 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: June 27, 2026 · Our methodology
COURTYARD OF NATCHITOCHES in NATCHITOCHES, LA was cited for violations during a health inspection on September 17, 2025.
The inspector found Cart X on Hall B at Courtyard of Natchitoches at 8:55 in the morning on September 16, 2025.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.