Medications

Question 1

Define Medication

Answer 1

Substance used in the diagnosis, treatment, cure, relief or prevention of health alterations

• can be prescriptions, non prescriptions or complementary herbal preparation

Question 2

Explain Medication administration use in the nursing practice

Answer 2

• Medication administration is a fundamental part of nursing practice and RNs draw on scientific knowledge to ensure safe, effective and appropriate outcomes for the patients
• Regardless of whether the patient receives their healthcare in tertiary, secondary, or primary care settings, the RN plays an essential role in medication therapy

Question 3

Australian’s national medicines policy

Answer 3

Achieve safe, effective and appropriate use of medications to improve health outcomes

Question 4

Quality use of medicines

Answer 4

Wise: ensuring the best possible treatment plan is chosen

Necessary: ensuring when medicines are needed, carefully selected, managed, monitored and reviewed

Safe and Effective: minimizing errors in medication administrating and ensuring that medicines achieve goals of therapy by improving health outcomes

Question 5

Role of nurses in medication safety

Answer 5

• RNs have full responsibility for all actions performed while caring for patients, including the administration of medications.
• when done incorrectly, they are held responsible for that action and its consequence through legal proceedings

Accountable for knowing the medications prescribed, their therapeutic and non-therapeutic effects, and the patient’s need for the medication

• Administers medication
• Provides education to the patient and family about the medication and its effects
• Assesses the patient’s need for the medication before the dose
• Evaluates the therapeutic and non-therapeutic effects of the medication, and clinical outcomes

Question 6

Pharmacokinetics

Answer 6

Study of how medication enters the body, move through the body, and ultimately leaves the body

Question 7

Pharmacodynamics

Answer 7

Process in which medication interacts with the body’s cells to produce a biologic response

Question 8

Principles of drug actions

Answer 8

A therapeutic effect is the desired result or action of a medication

• Absorption
  
  • A passage of a drug from the administration site into the blood stream
• Distribution
  
  • Process of delivering medication to tissues, organs and the specific site of action
• Metabolism
  
  • Process of which drug is altered to a less active form to prepare for excretion
• Excretion process removes the less active drug or its metabolites

Question 9

Half life of drug

Answer 9

Expected time it takes for the blood concentration to measure half of the original drug dose due to drug elimination

Question 10

Effects of Drugs

Answer 10

Side effects: predictable but unwanted and sometimes unavoidable reactions to medications

Adverse effects: severe, unwanted and often unpredictable drug reactions

Toxic effects: medication overdose or buildup of medication in the blood due to impaired metabolism and excretion

Allergic reactions: unpredictable immune responses to medications

Question 11

Antagonism

Answer 11

occurs when the Drug effect is decreased by taking the drug with another substance

Question 12

Benefits of eMR

Answer 12

• Fewer prescribing errors as systems provide clinical decision support
• Lower dispensing errors through closed-loop medication ordering, barcode scanning
• Reduced administration errors through clearer information on electronic MAR, reminders, alerts
• Less omission and comission errors at transition of care through better transferal of information
• Improved medication adherence and minimise misuse of medications

Question 13

5 rights of medication adminstration

Answer 13

• right medication
• right dose
• right patient
• right route
• right time/frequency

Question 14

Drug Regulations

Answer 14

Poisons and therapeutic goods act 1966 NSW

Medicines, poisons and therapeutic good regulation 2008

Question 15

Drug Scheduling In Australia

Answer 15

Schedule 1 - blank

Schedule 2 - pharmacy medicine

Schedule 3 - Pharmacist Only Medicine

Schedule 4 - Prescription Only Medicine

Schedule 4D - appendixD - requires storage and security

Schedule 5 - Poisons of hazardous nature

Schedule 6 - Poison

Schedule 7 - Dangerous Poison

Schedule 8 - Controlled Drug - narcotics
- should be available for use by require restriction of manufacture, supply, distribution, and use to reduce abuse and misuse

Question 16

S4D and S8 drugs

Answer 16

defined as “accountable medications”

• S4D are liable to abuse and include benzodiazepines, anabolic steroids

Requires a witness