Nursing administering medications

These are not nurse-administered medications. Except in Critical Care they cannot be administered unless the patient is intubated or has an airway. Be sure all resuscitation equipment and medications are available. 

The nurse caring for clients on a medical psychiatric unit has received the morning shift report. To whom should the nurse administer medications first ... 

ANTIFLATULENTS. Activated charcoal can adsorb drugs while they are in the GI tract. The nurse administers charcoal 2 hours before or 1 hour after other medications. If diarrhea persists or lasts longer than 2 days or is accompanied by fever, the nurse notifies the primary care provider. Simethicone is administered after each meal and at bedtime... 

An order was written for 30 mg Cyclosporine (immunosuppressant) oral solution to be administered to a pediatric patient. However, for several days, the nurse administered 300 mg believing that the syringe was calibrated in mg not mL. The oral solution is available as 100 mg/mL. As the pharmacist reviewed the error, he noted that the syringes accompanying the medication were never designed for pediatrics. It is not possible to calculate any dose less than 50 mg. It is imderstandable how the nurse assumed that the 3 mark was for 30 mg since it is positioned between 2,5 and 3,5 (which are European style for the decimals 2.5 and 3.5). To harmonize products in the global market, the manufacturer chose to follow European convention for expressing numbers which uses commas and decimals in the reverse manner as in the United States. 

The second study was a Veterans Administration (VA) collaborative project (208), which included 171 patients who received a placebo and 88 who received either CPZ or thioridazine (total subjects = 259). In this study, compliance was assured by including only inpatients, with nurses administering the medication. Relapse occurred in 45% of the placebo group, in contrast to only 5% of the drug-treated group. 

Physicians, dentists, podiatrists, and veterinarians—and, in some states, specialized pharmacists, nurses, physician s assistants, and optometrists—are granted authority to prescribe dangerous drugs (those bearing the federal legend statement, "Rx Only") on the basis of their training in diagnosis and treatment (see Who May Prescribe ). Pharmacists are authorized to dispense prescriptions pursuant to a prescriber s order provided that the medication order is appropriate and rational for the patient. Nurses are authorized to administer medications to patients subject to a prescriber s order (Table 65-2). 

A patient should be monitored for each medication used. Nurses or other practitioners administering medications to hospitalized patients, and patients or caregivers for ambulatory patients, need to be aware of basic medicafion safety related to their therapy. Patient counseling should include ... 

The nurse must make the following assessments before administering medication to the patient ... 

The chart looks as follows (only the page with entries on has been shown here. MH are the initials of the nurse administering the medication) ... 

The traditional system of providing patient care— wherein physicians initiate drug therapy, pharmacists dispense medications, and nurses administer medica-tion.s—is often run in a disjointed fashion. This results in potentially avoidable adverse drug events that contribute to poor patient outcomes and increased medical costs. Efforts aimed at modifying the current processes of care to enhance efficiency of workflow, improve patient outcomes, and reduce medication errors arc needed. 

One of the most important roles of the nurse is to administer medications. Understanding how a drug interacts with the human body will help a nurse administer drugs safely to patients. 

During the assessment phase, the nurse systematically collects, verifies, and analyzes patient-related data. A portion of the assessment process directly relates to administering medication to the patient. 

Medication can be administered once the nurse assesses the patient and determines that the medication can be administered safely. The nurse follows implementation procedures for administering medication. 

After medication is prepared, it is taken to the patient s room where the nurse administers the medication to the patient. In doing so, the nurse must follow precautions to assure that the medication is administered safely. Here s how it is done ... 

Patients are usually more comfortable self-administering medication if the dose is in household measurements. However, medication is recorded using metric measurements. Therefore, a nurse must be able to convert household measurements to metric measurements. 

A nurse may administer medication to a patient that is prepared by another licensed practitioner. 

When administering medications for a group of clients, the test taker must realize that time is a realistic problem. It is not feasible for the nurse to look up 50 to 60 medications and administer them all within the dosing time frame, so it is imperative that the nurse learn about the most common medications. 

The nurse must be aware that as the body ages, the body processes slow and do not function as they once did. The liver and kidneys are responsible for processing medications and eliminating the excess from the body. These organs are two of the most important organs to monitor when administering medications. The client s reaction to the medications prescribed, laboratory studies, and potential toxicities must all be carefully monitored. In the elderly, doses may need to be decreased to account for the body s decreased ability to process and detoxify medications. 

The nurse is preparing to administer medications to the following clients. Which medication would the nurse question administering ... 

The client has increased intracranial pressure and the health-care provider orders a bolus of 0.5 g/kg IV of 25% osmotic diuretic solution. The client weighs 165 pounds. How much medication will the nurse administer to the client ... 

The client diagnosed with a migraine headache rates the pain at a 4 on a 1-10 scale. Which medication would the nurse administer ... 

The client is prescribed sumatriptan (Imitrex), 6 mg subcutaneously, for a migraine headache. The medication comes 12 mg/mL. How many milliliters should the nurse administer ... 

The nurse is administering 1600 medications. Which medication should the nurse administer first ... 

MEDICATION MEMORY JOGGER The nurse must be knowledgeable about accepted standards of practice for disease processes and conditions. If the nurse administers a medication the health-care provider has prescribed and it harms the client, the nurse could be held accountable. Remember the nurse is a client advocate. 

MEDICATION MEMORY JOGGER Any time a nurse administers an intravenous push medication the nurse should dilute the medication. This causes less pain for the client, helps prevent infiltration of the vein, and allows the nurse to administer the medication over the correct amount of time if it is diluted to a 10-mL bolus. 

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