While reading the Basic Pharmacology for Nurses manual, it continuously indicates the need to follow the FIVE RIGHTS OF MEDICATION PREPARATION AND ADMINISTRATION – right patient, right drug, right route of administration, right dose and right time of administration. Many medication errors can be alleviated if all nurses take the extra time to follow these RIGHTS.
The SIXTH RIGHT is RIGHT DOCUMENTATION. Documentation of the date, time, drug name, dose, site and route of administration is crucial in post medication administration. It is a legal document and can be used in court when pertaining to evidence accumulated by Forensic Nurses for documentation towards investigation of trauma and/or deaths of patients.
As a nurse working in the ER, many errors are made due to the activity in the department, disruptions from visitors, interruptions from patients using the call bells, and verbal orders from physicians.
Nurses must continue to practice the rights of medication preparation and administration in order to decrease medication errors in their hospital setting.
tags
forensic nursing chronicles
forensic nursing
forensic nursing theories
medication errors
Forensic Nursing Chronicles 