Question

discuss how following the right of medication protect patient safety

Answer 1

Medication administration plays an important role in patient safety, it protects the patient from developing side effects from the medication as well as total benefit from the medication can be achieved.

it is also important to administer medication cautiously by avoiding medication error such as avoiding administration on the wrong time, reading prescription properly, giving the exact prescribed dose to the right patient also, sufficient staff should be available for the patient to administer medicine, if proper and sufficient knowledge will be present in the staff members than full advantage of medication could be achieved rather than any harmful effect.

Medication errors

A medication error is an error that occurs due to the inappropriate administration of the medication that causes direct or indirect harm to the client, these errors can be made at any point such as difficulty in reading prescription by the nurse, nomenclature, improper communication, monitoring of the effect of the drug, that can be prevented by giving extra attention while administration and prescription.

Factors affecting medication error

1.Drugs with the very similar name

2. the drug that is not prescribed often.

3. allergy to the medicine.

4. absence of testing before administration.

medicine which looks alike and sound alike have more chances of creating medication error, it is important to check the name of the drug thrice before administering to the client, look-alike medicines if prescribed to the client without being checked can cause deleterious effect on patient's body.

There are TEN rights OF medication administration

1. RIGHT CLIENT OR THE RIGHT PATIENT

always check the name of the patient and the date of birth of the patient, ask the patient to say his name and date of birth clearly and loudly, and match the same with his identification band, and check if a patient has allergies.

2.RIGHT MEDICATION

Always administer medication prepared by you but not by others and also check for the proper label of the medicine and the prescription, triple check medication before administering it to the client.

  3. RIGHT DOSE

The dose of the drug should be checked thoroughly and properly, the dose should be calculated thrice before administering to the client and counter check the calculated dose with the help of other nurses, check about the quantity of concentration and the dilution.

4. RIGHT TIME

it is very important for the nurse to check the timing of the drug and the duration of the drug, medications like antibiotics should be administered only up to a certain duration, check the date and the time before administering the drug.

5. RIGHT ROUTE

It is very important for the nurse to administer the drug to the specific route, for example, the sublingual drug should be administered per oral and also intravenous drug shouldn't be administered intramuscularly.

6. RIGHT EDUCATION

Explain the client regarding the effects of the medication and any allergy associated with the medication and the side effects.

    7. RIGHT TO REFUSE

a nurse cannot force the client to take medication if he refused to take it, its an illegal act to administer medication forcefully without patient's will or choice if a client refuses to take medicine then a nurse will document the time and the dose of the missing medicine and she will inform the physician regarding it.

8. RIGHT ASSESSMENT

Check for the safety and the appropriate use of the medication also, if found not appropriate inform the physician, document it and assess further, if any dose is skipped proper document should be maintained.

9. RIGHT EVALUATION

check for the effects, the side effects, the allergy, pre and post effects of the medication.

10. RIGHT DOCUMENTATION

documentation of the dose, route, frequency, date, time, everything should be done only after the medication is administered but never before administration of the medication.

There are few conditions in which the administration of the medication should be avoided such as expired medication, unprescribed dose or the medicine, allergy seen in the patient, if any change in the dose and frequency is not prescribed again by the physician, if the telephonic order is not taken by the senior nurse and the nurse in charge, medication get mixed with any liquid or get contaminated.

a medication error can be avoided by giving little attention before the prescription and the administration by the physicians and the nurses, keeping all the rights of medication administration in mind while administering drugs can give a safe and therapeutic effect of it, also it helps in keeping the safety of the patient.