Nurses are the last defense to ensuring medication safety, we are held accountable and responsible for their actions. Taking a few extra minutes to ensure accuracy is a preventative measure. For example, review of the 5 rights, nurses must be knowledgeable of the med being administered, we must enpower/educate our patients on their scheduled meds and then latter assess their recall of previous med teaching to make sure that the patient has full understanding of medications. Also avoid trying to interpret illegible writing, simply just call the prescriber for clarification, and always repeat telephone orders. Studies have shown that med errors are preventable and taking shortcuts when administering meds have proven to be costly and fatal.
Tags: Forensic Nursing, Forensic Nursing Chronicles, Forensic Nursing Theories, Medication Errors
Forensic Nursing Chronicles 