Chapter 7 - Safe Medication Administration Flashcards
The major watchdog organization for medication safety:
The Joint Commission
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices
A paper record of all medications a patient is receiving.
MAR
The six rights of medication administration:
Drug Dosage Route Time Person Recording
The three times a drug order and drug label are routinely checked against each other:
1) When you locate the drug
2) Just before you open and pour it
3) Immediately before you administer it
A form of inhalation insulin.
Exubera
p.r.n.
as needed (pro re nata)
Two time related specifics found on the MAR:
1) frequency
2) specific hours
The medication recipient is one of your best ____________ in preventing errors.
Assists
Consider the patient correct until ____________________.
proven otherwise
An important safety precaution is recognition of the patient/recipient as a full partner in __________________________.
medication administration
The three modalities related to drug orders:
1) prescribing
2) transcribing
3) administration
Number of people estimated to be killed annually by prescription drugs:
100,000
Instead of U (unit), use instead:
“unit”
Instead of IU, use instead:
“International Unit”
Instead of Q.D., QD, q.d., qd, use instead:
“daily”
Instead of Q.O.D., QOD, q.o.d., qod, use instead:
“every other day”
Instead of trailing zero, write:
X mg
Instead of lack of leading zero, write:
0.X mg
Instead of MS, use instead:
“morphine sulfate”
Instead of MSO4 or MgSO4, write:
“magnesium sulfate”
ISMP
Institute for Safe Medication Practices
All safety recommendations for abbreviations fall into two major categories:
1) abbreviations for administration and drug names
2) metric dosages containing decimals
Action steps when errors occur:
1) Errors must be reported as soon as they are discovered.
2) Necessary remedial measures must be instituted immediately.
3) The reason for the error must be determined.
4) And incident/accident report must be prepared.
5) Corrective policies/procedures must be instituted, if possible, to prevent the error from reoccurring.
The most important step after ensuring the safety of a patient after a medication error is ______________________.
reporting the error
________________________ play a significant role in medication errors.
Distraction and fatigue
Routine medication administration must never be _______________.
routine
Regardless of the source of an error, if you give a wrong drug or dosage, you are _________________ responsible for it.
legally
When identifying a drug, pay particular attention to _______________ and any initials that identify additional drug components or action.
generic names
When identifying dosages, take special precautions with metric dosages containing a ____________.
decimal
The route of administration is critical to medication ____________________.
safety and effectiveness
Parenteral medications are site-specific:
IV, IM, subcutaneous and intradermal
Time of administration is especially important for _________________ for pain and for drugs with a rapid action, such as insulin.
p.r.n. medications
Identification of the right person begins with asking his or her name, followed by checking the _____________.
Identa-Band
Making the patient or caretaker a full partner in medication administration is a major ____________.
safety consideration
Recent changes in abbreviations for drug names and administration are creating increased safety in the __________________.
clinical setting
_______________ must be reported as soon as discovered to set in motion the four additional steps you must take.
Dosage errors
Administering medications must never become __________.
routine
Fatigue and/or clinical distractions are involved in a major number of __________________.
medication errors
MARs are the immediate reference for _______________, and keeping them up-to-the-minute is of prime importance.
medication administration
