Administering Medication

Administration of Medications The safe and accurate administration of medication is one of the major responsibility of a nurse. The nurse should understand drug action, its side effects, and administer drugs safely . A drug or medication is a substance used for diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of disease . Every drug has got a chemical name or pharmacological name and trade name , or different trade names by different companies .

Routes of Administration The route of a drug depends on its properties, desired effect, and the patients physical and mental condition.

Routes of Administration Oral routes: a. Oral administration. b. Sublingual administration. Parenteral routes: a. Subcutaneous. b. intradermal. c. Intramuscularly. d. intravenous. Topical administration: in this , drugs are applied to the skin and mucous membrane . Inhalation. Rectal route- suppositories. Vaginal route- suppositories.

Medication Order The drug order, written by the physician, it has 7 essential parts for administration of drugs safely. the nurse should know how to read a drug order. It should have the following components: 1- Patients full name. 2- Date. 3- Drug name. 4- Dosage. 5- Route of administration. 6- Time and frequency of administration. 7- Signature of physician.

five Rights of Medication Administration Right drug. Right dose. Right patient. Right route. Right time.

Right Drug When the drug are first ordered , the nurse compare the prepared medication card with the physician written orders. When administering drug , the nurse should compare the label of the drug three times . The nurse should never prepare medication from unlabelled containers. Do not accept verbal orders. Be sure about the changing of orders.

Right Dose Carefully read physicians order. Check age and weight of the patient. Calculate the dose correctly. Do not spill medication.

Right Patient Medication should be given to the right patient after identifying him . Call the patient by his name .

Right Route Orally. Rectally. Vaginally. Intravenous( I.V) Intramuscular ( I.M) Intradermal ( I.D) Sublingual ( S.L) Subcutaneous (SC) Application. Inhalation.

Right Time BID (twice daily) TID (three times a day) QID (four times a day) E.O.D ( every other day) Stat ( once and stop ) PRN (when necessary) ABT (at bed time) AM (at morning) P.M (at night)

THE ROLE OF THE NURSE IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL SERVICES Provide the drug. Make sure there is enough stock of the drugs in the drug cabin. Check the expiry dates of the drugs. Supply with the dangerous drugs. Drug storage . Drug preparation . Has to know the units and subunits of drugs.

Contraindications for Oral Drug Administration In case of nausea and vomiting. Unconscious patient. In case of orally surgery. When the drugs are destroyed in the stomach by the action of digestive juice. e.g insulin, adrenalin .

Common Abbreviations Used in Drug Administration AM morning PM afternoon OD daily Qh every hour BID twice a day PRN when required Stat at once TID three times daily Comp compound FL fluid Liq liquid Syr syrup Tap tablets Cap capsule

Medicines Measurements Weight unit Volume unit Unit Code Equivalent Microgram Mcg 0.000001g Milliliter MI L 0.001 Milligram Mg 0.001g Centiliter CI L 0.01 Gram G 1g Deciliter DL L 0.1 Kilogram Kg g1000 Liter L L 1

NURSING ROLE WHEN DEALING WITH DRUGS RIGHT DRUG: make sure that you are giving the right drug which is prescribed by the doctor by double checking from the pts file. RIGHT DOSE: make sure that you are giving the right dose by making correct calculation for the dose prescribed by the doctor. RIGHT PATIENT: make sure of patients name by asking him about his name and compare it to the name on medication sheet. RIGHT ROUT: make sure you will give the drug in the right way , rout of administering drugs .

NURSING ROLE TOWARD THE PATIENT WHEN GIVING THE DRUG Make sure that patient took the medication . Watch for drug side effects. Make sure that nurse has no infectious diseases. Pharmaceutical education to himself.

THE ROLE OF THE NURSE TOWARD HIMSELF WHEN DEALING WITH MEDICATION Use the protective measurements when preparing some dangerous drugs. Take care when giving injections. Follow the safety measures when dealing with patients with infectious diseases.