Liquid medications are available in multi-dose vials or single-dose containers. It may be necessary to shake liquid medications if they are suspensions before watering. Make sure the label is clearly written and easy to read. When pouring a liquid medicine, it is ideal to put the label in the palm of your hand so that when a liquid medicine flows outside the bottle, it does not blur the writing and makes the label unidentifiable. If you pour liquid medications, read the dose at eye level and measure against the meniscus of the poured liquid. When administering oral medications, always follow the agency`s specific policies and procedures. Medication errors can occur at various stages of the drug administration process, from the prescription service provider to the pharmacist preparing the drug, to the apothecary technician who stores the drug and the nurse who administers the medication. Medication errors are most common in the ordering or prescribing phase. Typical mistakes are that the prescription provider writes the wrong medication, the wrong way, or the wrong dose or frequency. These order errors account for nearly 50% of medication errors. The data shows that nurses and pharmacists identify between 30% and 70% of medication order errors.
[46] The legal classification of a drug can sometimes change – this is what we call reclassification. It is sometimes called “switching”. Growing confidence in the role of the drug and a better understanding of its side effects can lead to a change in classification. Watch a video of an instructor asking a student typical questions about medications. Medications should be administered in a timely manner whenever possible. However, if several patients need to receive several medications at the same time, this goal of punctuality can be difficult. Most institutions have a policy that medications can be administered within 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after the intended medication. For example, a drug ordered for 0800 could be administered at any time between 0730 and 0830. However, some drugs must be administered at the specified time due to the pharmacokinetics of the drug. For example, if an antibiotic is scheduled every eight hours, this deadline must be met to maintain the effective bioavailability of the drug, but a drug scheduled daily has more flexibility with the actual administration time.
Regardless of the method of storing and dispensing medications used in an institution, the nurse must continue to review drug delivery fees in order to establish an accurate and secure drug passport. The use of a drug delivery system or barcode does not replace entitlement verification, but is used to add an extra layer of security to drug delivery. Nurses can also avoid medication errors by creating a usual medication verification process when administering medications. Drug administration rights should be in the following order: In addition to reviewing the fundamental rights of drug administration and documenting administration, it is also important for caregivers to review the following information to avoid medication errors. In general, there are only four different types of medication that you would encounter. These are: The patient`s medical history should be checked for possible interactions with previously administered medications or with the patient`s diet. It is also important to check the expiry date of the drug before administration. This work is supported by the UK Medicines Reclassification Platform.
Reclassification is important if, for example, it is the first of a new therapeutic class or target population for an existing product. Major reclassifications must be submitted to a committee of experts. For more information about drug classes, administration considerations, and side effects to watch out for, see Open RN Nursing Pharmacology. Stay with the patient until all medications have been swallowed before documenting whether the medication has been administered. [27] 2.1. Identify common types of medications – The most common types of medications are: antibiotics (amoxicillin), analgesics (paracetamol), antacids (Gaviscon), anticoagulants (warfarin), diuretics (furosemide), laxatives (lactulose), antihistamines, psychotropics, cytotoxics.