1. Chapter 32 Oral Medications

2. Question Is the following statement true or false?
An advanced practice nurse can write a medication order.

3. Answer
True.
An advanced practice nurse can write a medication order if legally designated to do so by state statutes.

4. Medication Orders
Lists the drug name and directions for its administration
Written on client’s medical records
Written by medical personnel, physician’s assistant, or advanced practice nurse

5. Medication Orders (cont’d)
Components of medication orders
Drug name: trade name
Drug dose: the amount of drug to administer, prescribed using the relevant system of measurement

6. Medication Orders (cont’d)
Route of administration: how the drug is given
Oral, topical, inhalant, or parenteral route
Frequency of administration: how often and how regularly the medication is to be given

7. Question The standard abbreviation for writing twice a day is? a. q.d.
b. q.o.d.
c. b.i.d.
d. t.i.d.

8. Answer
c. b.i.d.
The standard abbreviation for writing twice a day is b.i.d.; q.d. stands for everyday, q.o.d. for every other day, and t.i.d. for three times a day.

9. Question
Which of the following is the most common route to administer medication?
a. Oral
b. Topical
c. Inhalant
d. Parenteral

10. Answer
a. Oral
The oral route is the most common route to administer medication. The topical route is used for skin application, inhalant for aerosol, and parenteral for injection.

11. Medication Orders (cont’d)
Verbal orders: instructions for client care that are given during face-to-face conversations
Telephone orders: obtained from a physician during a telephone conversation
Documented in the medication administration record

12. Methods of Supplying Medications
Storing medications: medications remain locked until the drugs are administered
Accounting for narcotics: federal laws regulate their possession and administration; nurses are responsible for an accurate account of their use and must keep a record of each narcotic used from the stock supply

13. Methods of Supplying Medications (cont’d)
Ways to supply drugs:
Individual supply
Unit dose supply
Stock supply

14. Medication Administration
Applying the 5 rights safeguards against medication errors
Calculating dosages is one of the 5 rights
Oral medications are prepared and taken to the client’s bedside in a paper or plastic cup for administration

15. Drug Calculation Formula

16. Preparing Medications Safely

17. Taking Medications

18. Medication Administration (cont’d)
Oral medications are administered by enteral tube if client cannot swallow them
Documentation is required on medication administration record
Nurses are ethically and legally responsible for reporting medication errors

19. Nursing Implications Nursing diagnoses Deficient knowledge
Risk for aspiration
Ineffective therapeutic regimen management
Ineffective health maintenance
Noncompliance

20. General Gerontologic Considerations
The body constitution affects the way medications work
The chemical properties of the medication determine the degree to which these age- related changes influence medication actions

21. General Gerontologic Considerations (cont’d)
Polypharmacy in older adults increases the risk for drug interactions and adverse medication reactions
Taking more than one medication can cause mental changes
Enteric-coated medications should never be crushed