Institute of Safe Medicine Practices

DMT

Institute of Safe Medicine Practices

SyringesYou may worry that if you make a mistake when administering medication, there will be severe negative consequences. That shouldn’t keep you from reporting it, however. It’s important to take responsibility so that corrective action can be taken. It’s possible that similar errors have been made for a variety of reasons—poor labeling, instructions that are difficult to understand—and identifying these types of problems can help prevent future problems.

Many facilities have strict protocols to report medication errors and the first things you should do is notify your superior and take steps to correct the error. An incident report must be documented and ways to avoid the mistake in the future must be evaluated. Both the FDA and USP have voluntary reporting forms for medication errors so that problems with labels or abbreviations can be shared with other health care providers. Here is an example from the Institute of Safe Medicine Practices.

Since humans make errors, it is fairly certain that medication errors will occur despite your best efforts. This video (select a video option on the right under webcasts) discusses the most common causes of medication errors.

Administering drugs safely is the responsibility of all healthcare providers that give any drug. Whether you are working in a hospital, clinic, doctor’s office, or imaging facility, the protocols and guidelines for safe drug administration must be followed to minimize errors. When giving medications, it is important to follow your facility’s guidelines and always use the six rights of administration.

Patient education while giving the drug is important so that the patient knows what to report to the caregiver and what to avoid or do while on the medication. Be sure to use language the patient can understand and have him repeat any instructions so you can evaluate his level of understanding and clarify any misconceptions.

GI and Parenteral Routes

DMT

Nasogastric

Proper use of the MDI

The most common route for drug administration is the gastrointestinal (GI) route. The majority of drugs prescribed for patients are pills, tablets, and liquids taken by mouth. You may be taking an oral medication yourself or probably know someone who is. This is the easiest method of administration because no special supplies are needed, and a person can usually administer medicine to herself via this route.

The mouth is not the only route for GI drugs. Any drug that is absorbed through the intestines is considered gastrointestinal. Other GI routes include nasogastric and gastric tubes and the rectal route. Mostly liquid medications and food are given through the gastric tube routes although you may be required to crush and dilute some solid forms of drugs for tube administration. Suppositories and liquids are the usual forms of drugs administered rectally.

There are a few reasons not to use the GI routes for drug administration. Some drugs might be destroyed by stomach acids. Some patients may experience discomfort and irritation of membranes due to a nasogastric tube. A patient’s inability to retain a suppository may also be a factor. Administration of medication to unconscious patients is of course difficult via the GI route.

Parenteral AdministrationPatch

Another common route of medication administration is the parenteral route. Parenteral administration is simply any method of delivering a drug that bypasses the GI tract. This includes medication applied to the skin or mucus membranes, put into the eyes or ears, inhaled medications, and injections.

Each method has special supplies and considerations. For example, if you are giving a transdermal ointment or applying a patch to the skin, you need to make sure you have a clean, dry area for application and take care not to touch the ointment or pad. If you are educating a patient on the use of metered dose inhalers or small volume nebulizers, you need to know the proper method of application so the patient receives the dose ordered. The video shows the proper use of the MDI.

If you are administering drugs by injection, you need to be familiar with the equipment available and how each syringe and needle should be used. Review some basic information about needles and syringes. Safe administration is essential to protect both the patient and healthcare provider.

Knowing how to administer all forms of medications safely is a task that requires practice. You need to understand the guidelines and patient education that accompany each method to ensure correct dosage and minimize adverse effects. Proper documentation is a key component for all administration methods.

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