Ensuring the Six Rights of Medication Administration

Which statement or question best illustrates the nurse's understanding of the role of nursing assistive personnel (NAP) in medication administration? A. "Does the patient need her pain medication?" B. "Let me know if she complains of any nausea." C. "What is the quality of her pain now?" D. "Tell her she doesn't have an order for the drug she's asking for."

"Let me know if she complains of any nausea." Rationale: The nurse may delegate to NAP the task of reporting a patient's symptoms. Patient assessment regarding pain medication and quality of pain may not be delegated to NAP. NAP are not responsible for delivering this kind of information to a patient, since doing so would require educating the patient about his or her medication regimen. Patient education may not be delegated to NAP.

What is the most important step the nurse can take to ensure that the patient is getting the correct medication? A. Assess the patient's ability to swallow oral medications without difficulty. B. Question the patient about his or her experience with this or similar medications. C. Compare the medication label with the MAR three times. D. Evaluate the patient's understanding of the safety issues related to the specific drug.

Compare the medication label with the MAR three times. Rationale: Comparing the medication label with the MAR three times helps protect the patient from medication administration errors. Although it is appropriate to assess the patient's swallowing ability, this precaution applies only to oral medications. Although it is appropriate to ask if the patient has had any experience taking the agent or a similar drug, this precaution would not be helpful if the medication were new to the patient. Although it is appropriate to evaluate the patient's understanding of the safety issues related to the specific drug, doing so is not the most effective way for the nurse to protect the patien

What is the nurse's best response after noticing that the route of administration has been omitted from a medication order? A. Ask which route the patient prefers. B. Immediately notify the prescriber to request that the order be completed. C. Refer to a current drug book to determine the most commonly prescribed route. D. Contact the pharmacy to determine the most appropriate route for this patient.

Immediately notify the prescriber to request that the order be completed. Rationale: The prescriber is required to include all pertinent information on the prescription and should be notified immediately if it is incomplete. Asking which route the patient would prefer is not a safe way of addressing such an omission. Referring to a current drug book for the most commonly prescribed route is not a safe way of addressing such an omission. Contacting the pharmacy is not an appropriate means of addressing an omission in a medication order.

When preparing to administer a new medication, what would the nurse do first to ensure the patient's safety? A. Perform hand hygiene. B. Compare the written order with the medication administration record (MAR). C. Inform the patient about the medication. D. Review appropriate nursing considerations.

Perform hand hygiene. Rationale: The first step in preparing to administer a new medication would be to perform hand hygiene. Although it is appropriate to compare the written order with the medication administration record (MAR), to inform the patient about the medication, and to review applicable nursing considerations, doing so would not be the nurse's first step in preparing to administer a new medication.

As the nurse is administering medication to a patient, the patient states, "I've never seen that pill before." What is the nurse's most appropriate response? A. Reassure the patient that the pharmacy sent the right medication. B. Tell the patient that it is probably a different brand than what he takes at home and not to worry. C. Tell the patient that you will review the physician's order to clarify any discrepancies. D. Tell the patient that the doctor probably ordered a new medication.

Tell the patient that you will review the physician's order to clarify any discrepancies. Rationale: If a patient questions a medication, it is important to review the medication orders and revisit the six rights of medication administration. An alert patient will know whether a medication is different from those he or she has received before.