1. Medication Administration

2. Define selected terms related to the administration of medications.

3. Medication
Substance administered for the diagnosis, treatment, or relief of a symptom or for the prevention of diseases
Used interchangeably with the word drug
Drug also has the connotation of an illegally obtained substance

4. Prescription
Written directions for the preparation and administration of a drug

5. Generic name of a drug
Name given before a drug becomes officially approved as a medication

6. Official name of a drug
Name under which it is listed in one of the official publications

7. Chemical name of a drug
Name by which a chemist knows the drug

8. Trade or brand name Name given by the drug manufacturer
Usually short and easy to remember

9. Pharmacology
Study of the effect of drugs on living organisms

10. Pharmacy Art of preparing, compounding, and dispensing drugs
Also refers to the place where drugs are prepared

11. Describe legal aspects of administering medications.

12. Legal Aspects of Administering Medications
Nursing practice acts
Responsibility for actions
Question any order that appears unreasonable
Refuse to give the medication until the order is clarified

13. Controlled Substances
Kept under lock
Special inventory forms
Documentation requirements
Counts of controlled substances
Procedures for discarding

14. Nurses need to know how nursing practice acts in their areas define and limit their functions and be able to recognize the limits of their own knowledge and skills. Under the law, nurses are responsible for their own actions regardless of whether there is a written order. Therefore, nurses should question any order that appears unreasonable and refuse to give the medication until the order is clarified.

15. Another aspect of nursing practice governed by law is the use of controlled substances. Controlled substances are kept under lock. Special inventory (list of items) forms are used for recording the use of these substances

16. The information usually required on these forms include the name of the client, date and time of administration, name of the drug, dosage, and signature of the person who prepares and gives the drug. The name of the primary care provider who ordered the drug may also be listed.

17. A verifying signature of another RN may be required by the agency when a drug is administered. Careful inventory control is maintained. When a portion or all of a controlled substance is discarded, the nurse must ask another nurse to witness the discarding. In most agencies, counts of controlled substances are taken at the end of each shift and the count total should tally with the total at the end of the last shift minus the number used.

18. Identify physiologic factors and individual variables affecting medication action.

19. Factors Affecting Medication Action
Developmental
Gender
Cultural, ethnic, and genetic
Diet
Environment
Psychologic
Illness and disease
Time of administration

21. Medication action may be affected by developmental factors, gender, culture, ethnicity, genetics, diet, environment, psychologic factors, illness and disease, and time of administration.

22. The nurse needs to be aware of developmental factors
The nurse needs to be aware of developmental factors. Pregnant women must be careful about taking medications, especially in the first trimester, because of the possible adverse effects on the fetus. Infants usually require smaller doses because of their body size and the immaturity of their organs.

23. Older adults have different responses to medications due to physiologic changes that accompany aging and because they may be prescribed multiple drugs and incompatibilities may occur.

24. Gender differences in medication action are chiefly related to the distribution of body fat and fluid and hormonal differences. In addition, most research studies on medications have been done on men.
In addition to gender, a client’s response to drugs is also influenced by genetic variations such as size and body composition (pharmacogenetics).

25. Ethnopharmacology is the study of the effects of ethnicity on response to prescribed medications. Cultural factors and practices (values and beliefs) can also affect a drug’s action; for example, an herbal remedy may speed up or slow down the metabolism of certain drugs (see Culturally Competent Care).

26. The diet may contain nutrients that can interact with medications and increase or decrease action.
It is important to consider the effects of a drug in the context of the client’s personality, milieu (surroundings ), and environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, noise).

27. Psychologic factors, such as a client’s expectations about what a drug can do, can affect the response to the medication.
Illness and disease can affect how a client responds to a medication. For example, aspirin can reduce body temperature of a feverish client but has no effect on body temperature of a client without a fever.

28. Time of administration is important because medications are absorbed more quickly if the stomach is empty; however, some medications irritate the gastrointestinal tract and are given after a meal.

29. Routes of Medication Administration
Oral (PO)
Sublingual (SL)
Buccal
Parenteral
Subcutaneous (SC)
Intramuscular (IM)
Intradermal (ID)

30. Intravenous (IV)
Intra-arterial (IA)
Intracardiac (IC)
Intraosseous (IO)
Intrathecal (intraspinal) (IT) (IS)
Epidural (ED)
Intra-articular

31. Topical Dermatological Instillations and irrigations Inhalation
Ophthalmic, otic, nasal, rectal, and vaginal

32. Routes of medication administration include oral, sublingual, buccal, parenteral, and topical.
In oral administration the drug is swallowed. It is the most common, least expensive, and most convenient route for most clients

33. In sublingual administration a drug is placed under the tongue, where it dissolves.

34. Buccal means “pertaining to the cheek
Buccal means “pertaining to the cheek.” In buccal administration a medication is held in the mouth against the mucous membranes of the cheek until the drug dissolves.

35. Some common routes for parenteral administration include subcutaneous (hypodermic), into the subcutaneous tissue just below the skin; intramuscular, into the muscle; intradermal, under the epidermis (into the dermis)

36. intravenous, into a vein;
intra-arterial, into an artery;
intracardiac, into the heart muscle; intraosseous, into the bone;
intrathecal or intraspinal, into the spinal canal;
epidural, into the epidural space; and intra-articular, into a joint.

37. Topical applications are those applied to a circumscribed surface area of the body. Routes for topical applications include dermatologic, applied to the skin; instillations and irrigations, applied into body cavities or orifices such as the urinary bladder, eyes, ears, nose, rectum, or vagina

38. ophthalmic, otic, nasal, rectal, and vaginal topical preparations; and inhalations, administered into the respiratory system by a nebulizer or positive pressure breathing apparatus.

40. Parts of a Medication Order
Full name of the client
Date and time the order written
Name of drug to be administered
Dosage
Frequency of administration
Route of administration
Signature of person writing the order

41. Types of Medication Orders and Examples
Stat order
Demerol 100 mg IM stat
Single order
Seconal 100 mg hs before surgery
Standing order
Multivitamin 1 capsule po daily
Demerol 100 mg IM q 4 h x 5 days
prn order
Amphojel 15 mL prn

42. A stat order indicates that the medication is to be given immediately and only once (e.g., Demerol 100 mg IM stat).
The single order or one-time order is for medication to be given once at a specified time (e.g., Seconal 100 mg hs before surgery).

43. The standing order may or may not have a termination date, may be carried out indefinitely (e.g., multiple vitamins daily) until an order is written to cancel it, or may be carried out for a specified number of days (e.g., Demerol 100 mg IM q4h × 5 days).
A prn order or as-needed order permits the nurse to give a medication when, in the nurse’s judgment, the client requires it (e.g., Amphojel 15 mL prn).

44. State systems of measurement that are used in the administration of medications.

45. Systems of Measurement
Metric
Apothecary
Household

47. List six essential steps to follow when administering medication.

48. Six Essential Steps for Administering Medications
Identify the client
Inform the client
Administer the drug
Provide adjunctive interventions as indicated
Record the drug administered
Evaluate the client’s response to the drug

49. 1. When administering any drug, regardless of the route of administration, the nurse must identify the client, inform the client, administer the drug, provide adjunctive interventions as indicated, record the drug administered, and evaluate the client’s response to the drug.

50. The nurse must use at least two client identifiers whenever administering medications. Acceptable identifiers may be the person’s name, an assigned identification number, a telephone number, a photograph, or another personal identifier.

51. If the client is unfamiliar with the medication, the nurse should explain the intended action as well as any side effects or adverse reactions that might occur. It is also very important to listen to the client.

52. Before administering the drug, the nurse should read the medication administration record (MAR) carefully and perform three checks with the labeled medication (See Box 35–3). In addition the ten “rights” of medication administration must be observed

54. The nurse should provide adjunctive interventions as indicated
The nurse should provide adjunctive interventions as indicated. Clients may require physical assistance in assuming positions for parenteral medications or may need guidance about measures to enhance drug effectiveness and prevent complications.

55. The nurse must record the drug administered, following agency regulations.

56. In order to evaluate the client’s response to the drug, the nurse should know the kinds of behavior that reflect the action or lack of action of the drug and its untoward effects (both minor and major) for each medication the client is receiving.
The nurse may also report the client’s response directly to the nurse manager and primary care provider.

57. Ten “Rights” of Accurate Medication Administration
Right medication (Drug)
Right dose
Right time
Right route
Right client
Right documentation
Right client education
Right to refuse
Right assessment
Right evaluation

59. Describe physiologic changes in older adults that alter medication administration and effectiveness.
Elder Considerations
Altered memory
Decreased visual acuity
Decrease in renal function

60. Less complete and slower absorption from the gastrointestinal tract
Increased proportion of fat to lean body mass
Decreased liver function
Decreased organ sensitivity
Altered quality of organ responsiveness
Decrease in manual dexterity

61. Physiologic changes in older adults that alter medication administration and effectiveness include altered memory; decreased visual acuity; decreased renal function, resulting in slower elimination of drugs and higher drug concentration in the bloodstream for longer periods; less complete and slower absorption from the gastrointestinal tract;

62. increased proportion of fat to lean body mass, which facilitates retention of fat-soluble drugs and increases the potential for toxicity; decreased liver function, which hinders biotransformation of drugs;

63. decreased organ sensitivity, which means that the response to the same drug concentration in the vicinity (surrounding region) of the target organ is less in older people than in the young; altered quality of organ responsiveness, resulting in adverse effects becoming pronounced before therapeutic effects are achieved

64. and decreased manual dexterity due to arthritis and/or decreased flexibility .

65. Outline steps required to administer oral medications safely.
Prior to administering oral medications, the nurse should assess for allergies to medications ,the client’s ability to swallow the medication;

67. presence of vomiting or diarrhea; specific drug action, side effects, interactions, and adverse reactions; the client’s knowledge of and learning needs about the medication; and determine if assessment data influences administration of the medications.

68. In preparation for administering the medication, the nurse should know the reason why the client is receiving the medication, the drug classification, contraindications, usual dosage range, side effects, and nursing considerations for administering and evaluating the intended outcomes for the medication. The nurse should check the MAR, verify the client’s ability to take medication orally, and organize the supplies.

69. Nasogastric/Gastrostomy Tube Medication Administration
Outline steps required for nasogastric and gastrostomy tube medication administration.
Nasogastric/Gastrostomy Tube Medication Administration
Check with the pharmacist for a liquid form
Check to see if medication may be crushed
Crush a tablet into a fine powder and dissolve in at least 30 mL of warm water

70. Open capsules and mix the contents with water only with the pharmacist’s advice
Do not administer whole or undissolved medications
Assess tube placement
Aspirate stomach contents and measure the residual volume

71. Nasogastric/Gastrostomy Tube Medication Administration
Remove the plunger from the syringe and connect the syringe to a pinched or kinked tube
Put 15 to 30 mL (5 to 10 mL for children) of water into the syringe barrel to flush the tube before administering the first medication

73. Pour liquid or dissolved medication into the syringe barrel and allow to flow by gravity into the enteral tube
Administer each medication separately and flush with at least 15 to 30 mL water between each medication

74. When you have finished administering all medications, flush with another 15 to 30 mL (5 to 10 mL for children) of warm water to clear the tube
If the tube is connected to suction, disconnect the suction and keep the tube clamped to enhance absorption

134. Medication Administration