The administration of medications is one of the most important roles for the Nurse. We as nurse should never administer a drug until we have become familiar with its therapeutic intent, dosage, mode of administration and potential side effects. One of the most common errors I have seen throughout my career is the improper administration and follow up of epinephrine, it seems simple enough to use an epi-pen; but most health care professionals don’t know you have to hold it in place for 10 seconds, yes, I have seen this many times unfortunately, some people still give it s/c. I have talked to pts who have had an anaphylactic reaction and they have told me they didn’t go to hospital for follow up because they didn’t know. A young girl died in my home town, she had an allergy to peanuts and although she was given her epi-pen by a teacher, it was not given correctly or the teacher didn’t know to check the needle after. The paramedics didn’t check the pen either when they arrived on scene.
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Forensic Nursing Chronicles 