Medication Administration Case Study Examples

Case Study One: Medication Administration This paper will explore some ways facilities are trying to improve on safe medication administration. Many new system safe safeguards are being implemented and reducing the amount of medication errors. Another area facilities are improving is with better medication reconciliation. This collaborated effort may seem lengthy in the beginning but it is a crucial factor in reducing many mistakes. Extra safety measures taken with new graduate nurses with medication administration also may play a key role in reducing errors. In conclusion of the paper I will discuss what I feel about how I prevent making medication errors. In addition, how I care for myself on days that I am not working. Having a clear

According to an interview, Dr. Brown states medication errors cost billions of dollars and can cause injury or even death. Brown later goes on to declare, “1.3 million people are injured and approximately 7000 deaths occur each year in the United States alone.” To aid in helping to avoid medication errors a nurse should first assess the five rights. They are right person, right medication, right time, right route and right dose. By assessing, the right patient, verify two identifiers, such as name and date of birth. When doing this a nurse should take the time to assess if a patient has any allergies. Right time is easier thanks to the pharmacy. Verified by the pharmacist correct medication times are determined and stored in the patient’s electronic medical record. Right medication becomes easier over time as staff becomes more familiar with different medications. Kept on most floors are drug books to assist nurses. Right dosing is normally up to the provider and pharmacist. It is good practice to utilize drug books to see safe dosages. Many medication doses are calculated by height and weight. Another safety system is high alert medications are always verified by two RN’s. High alert medications include insulin, heparin, and lovenox. Two nurses should be present when a medication is wasted. To do this many Pyxis require the fingerprint of two

The scary fact of that same study was “50% said they would not recognize life threatening complications that would require intervention.” This study also showed that nurses that a strong preceptor, they became a better, safer nurse. Preceptors should have many years of experience before trying to train new nurses. Some facilities have new graduates train with more than one preceptor. Doing this new staff might not pick up one nurse’s bad habits. New graduates training time varies from job to job. O’Keeffe’s study showed that three months of an orientation was a good place to start. New graduate nurses need a preceptor to be with them at all times at first to ensure that they are safe. Once the new nurse proves she can be safe then the preceptor should allow them to become a little more independent. With the experienced nurse, slowly start stepping back allowing the new graduate to gain confidence in their