NURS 6401 week 6 Assignment Paper
Medication Administration
The six rights of medication administration are the right medication, the right dose, the right patient, the right route, the right time and the right documentation. I plan to implement all of these patient medication administration rights when I progress to working in the field. There are several parts of the medication administration process where errors can occur. Most commonly errors occur in prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, administering and monitoring medications. The nurse is the last line of defense for the patient and therefore it is the nurses responsibility to check and re-check all elements to the medication administration process and to question or correct and mistakes that have been made down the line.NURS 6401 week 6 Assignment Paper
I will incorporate the right medication, by checking and double checking labels and orders and making sure that the right medication is given to the right patient. I will also compare the prescribes orders with the medication administration record when it is first ordered.
Then when preparing the medication I will compare the label of the medication with the medication administration record three different times; first before removing the container, second as the medication is being removed from the container and lastly at the bedside of the patient before administering the medication.NURS 6401 week 6 Assignment Paper
There are many drugs that are spelled almost the same, but this does not mean that they are the same drug or that they are interchangeable. (Patricia A. Potter, 2013) I would also be sure to have the right dose to prevent over or under dosing. I would use measuring devices and conversions to calculate the correct dose and be sure to know which drugs can and cannot be crushed such as extended release tablets or specially coated tabs. An error in dosing can cost a nurse their license and potentially a patient’s life. I will make sure I am able to calculate the medication doses and know how to calculate drug doses by weight. I will also research the drug before administering it to know the recommended drug dosage range for the drug.
If the route or dosage of a drug is ever incorrect, I would contact the pharmacist or prescribe r and document all communications. I would be sure to incorporate the right patient, by using two patient identifiers, one being a patient’s first and last name and the second being their date of birth or patient identification number. I would also utilize the electronic barcode scanner when giving medications if one is available. (Linda Lane Lilley, 2013) I would also be sure to know the right route and know which drugs can be given in which route. If a patient were given the wrong medication via an incorrect route, it can cause great damage. I would see what the prescriber has ordered as a route for a patient’s medication and if it is not listed, I would call the prescriber. The right route is necessary for the appropriate absorption of the medication and to ensure the patient is not harmed by administering the drug via the wrong route.NURS 6401 week 6 Assignment Paper
I would also use the right time in making sure that I know when a patient has received their medications and when their next ones are due. The right time is very important to be able to maintain an effective concentration of the medicine in the patient’s blood stream and maintain a therapeutic drug serum level. A dose given too soon can cause toxicity and missed doses can nullify the drug action and its effect. Medications may be given on half hour before or after the time prescribed. There may be circumstances which cause a delay or omission of a medication such as laboratory or diagnostic tests, and you must be sure to document this. Documentation is very important when a drug is administered; it must immediately be documented on the medication administration record with the time the drug was given and with the nurse’s initials, which will help to reduce the likelihood of mistakes or confusion.
I would make sure to keep the right documentation by before giving a medication, making sure that the medication administration record clearly stated the name and order for the patient fully written out. I would also record and chart each medication that was given, what it was given for, what drug was given, how much was given and what time; all immediately after giving the medication. If a drug is refused by the patient, there is a designated area to note the refusal in the medication administration record. (Patricia A. Potter, 2013) Distractions can be avoided when giving medications by not documenting until after a medication is given and after it is given it should be documented immediately after. Another way to avoid distraction is to not talk to anyone while preparing or administering your medication. This can totally distract you and maybe make it harder for you to concentrate or pay attention to what you are doing.NURS 6401 week 6 Assignment Paper
I would also make sure to prepare my medications for my patients in a quiet place to avoid all distraction. If the facility has a medication room then this would be the ideal place to prepare a medication. It is also okay to take your time and let others know that they need to be patient until you are finished with what you are doing. Never leave medications unattended or during the middle of a medication count. (Linda Lane Willey, 2011) PINCH drugs are those drugs which have been labeled by the hospital or facility as high-alert medications. Medications on the PINCH list include Potassium, insulin, narcotics, chemotherapy and cardiac drugs, and heparin or other anti-clotting drugs. This system is in place to remind nurses of these drugs and which ones they are, so that they can be on a high-alert when administering them as well as using a double check system. When administering any of the PINCH drugs an RN must first have the order and medication verified by a second Registered Nurse before administering the medication. (M. Linda Workman, 2011)
Abbreviations you would not want to use when documenting anything including medications is (1) u/U for unit. This can be mistaken for the number four, number zero, or cc instead write out unit. Another abbreviation we do not use (2) is qd or qod; both could be mistaken for each other and instead we would write out daily or every other day. Another do not use abbreviation is (3) IU which can be mistaken for IV or the number ten, and instead we write out international unit. (4) We also will never use a trailing zero (9.0) or leave out the leading zero (0.9) or else the decimal point can easily be missed. Lastly, (4) we do not want to use the abbreviation MS which can mean morphine sulfate or magnesium sulfate, and so instead we write out the entire name. (Patricia A. Potter, 2013)NURS 6401 week 6 Assignment Paper
The nurse’s role and responsibilities in administering medications are to assess that the medication that is ordered is the correct medication. Assess the patient’s ability to administer their own medications, and decide when (time) a patient should receive a certain medication, administer medications appropriately and monitor the patient’s as well as the effects of the medications. The nurse is the last line of defense to save a patient from harm. It is the nurse’s responsibility to constantly follow through with these six rights of medication administration and make sure the patient is safe. The nurse must also take on the role of teaching patients and their family about the medications that the patient may be taking and assess the patient to ensure that the patient and/or the family is clear on instructions of medications and being able to administer them properly. (Patricia A. Potter, 2013)
The safety and security of a human’s life depend on following the six rights of medication administration. Every nurse should learn how to prepare and administer the medications no matter what kind of policy or what procedures he or she has to follow. These six rights are the right drug, dose, route, time, patient, and documentation. Knowing this info is essential for nursing practice as it influences the quality of life of the patients.NURS 6401 week 6 Assignment Paper
The right drug is the one which label has been checked three times. One of the checks includes looking at the expiration date. What can this right influence if not followed? What can make a nurse forget about this right? Despite the fact that the answer to the first question is obvious, there are cases when the check is not performed. The most common reason for this is being exhausted. If the management of the hospital doesn’t stick to the laws that define a number of working hours, the safety of patients’ lives is questionable.
The right dose can save someone’s life while the wrong one can lead even to death. What can make a nurse give the patient the wrong dose? A wrong prescription made by the doctor or the wrong interpretation of it will lead to taking an inadequate dosage of the drug. This happens when there’s a huge flow of patients in periods of epidemic. If this happens on a regular basis, the management of the hospital should conduct the investigation to find out the initial reason for this.
The right time defines the efficiency of the drug that the patient takes. Each drug has some peculiarities that a nurse should keep in mind. There are two categories of drugs such as that are taking at a specific time of day or night and the ones that are taken on a call. The goal of the nurse is to set the notifications the way the process of providing the drugs to the patients could be efficient.
The right patient is the right person whom the nurse should give the drug. If the nurse gives the drug to another person, the consequences of this action can be negative. The reason for doing this can be laziness of the personnel or the illusion of good relationships between the nurse and the patient. In the first case, the management of the hospital should take care of this. In the second case, the nurse should check the data using the MAR, the information band of the patient and ask the patient to say the name and the date of birth.NURS 6401 week 6 Assignment Paper
The right documentation and route are the points that are mostly ignored by the nurses. This can lead to unexpected consequences in both cases. If the medicine is supposed to be taken through the injection, all the other ways are considered as wrong ones. A harmful impact causes inevitable results. The right documentation can prevent any further mistakes regarding prescribing and taking drugs in the future.
Knowing and sticking to 6 rights of administration will lower the chance to make a medical error in any situation with any patient. These rights seem unimportant and sometimes they become annoying especially if there’s a big number of patients. The nurse can influence positively or negatively on the outcome of the disease, so ignoring the rights shouldn’t be treated as a normal common practice.NURS 6401 week 6 Assignment Paper