RIGHTS OF DRUG

ADMINISTRATION DOCTOR’S ORDER

SYSTEMS TO
EMPLOY TO
AVOID
MEDICATION
ERROR

MEDICATION SHEET MEDICATION TICKET

MEDICATION ERROR

A medication error is one of the serious problems often faced in the healthcare setting which
threatens the safety of the patients. Most of the health problems in today’s world are treated not
only by behavior and lifestyle changes but also accompanied with taking drugs or medications.
Giving drugs or medications is one of the most complex, yet most vital processes of nursing
care. According to Fontan and Maneglier (2003), “medication errors are the most common
medical errors that can occur as inappropriate use of medicine in each one of medicine
prescription stages for patients.” Medication errors have a lot of undesirable consequences for
the patients such as prolonged hospitalization, increased cost in hospitalization, distrust in the
healthcare system, severe injury, or even death (Webster & Anderson, 2002). Knowing these
possible negative effects of medication errors, it is indeed important to establish and follow
some systems that can help reduce or prevent the incidence of medication errors.

RIGHTS OF DRUG ADMINISTRATION

One of the systems that can be employed is the rights of drug administration. These show 10
important things that nurses need to consider before administering any drug. These include the
right drug, right patient, right dose, right route, right time and frequency, right documentation,
right history and assessment, drug approach and right to refuse, right drug-drug interaction and
evaluation, and right education and information (Vera, 2020). First and foremost, the nurse must
verify the right name and form of the drug to be administered. The nurse must be thorough in
checking and verifying for some drugs look alike and sound alike which can ultimately lead to
errors when misread. Following this would be checking the right patient. Before giving any drug
or medication, the nurse may verify if it is the right patient by asking the patient’s name and date
of birth and checking his or her tag or armband. The third one which is the right dose states that
the nurse must check the medication sheet and doctor’s order before giving the medication.
Also, the nurse must check the right route if it is oral, IV, etc. Following that, checking the
doctor’s order for the time and frequency of the drug administration is very important. The nurse
must also make sure that the drug administration is correctly documented. Another important
thing to consider is to secure a copy of the patient’s history of drug administration most
especially with regards to allergies. Following that would be to review the previous medications
given or the diet of the patient that may have a bad interaction with the administered drug.
Lastly, the nurse must let the patient know about the drug that he or she is going to take and
explain the expected results and possible side effects. All of these can help the nurse to be
guided on how to administer medications safely and correctly.

DOCTOR’S ORDER, MEDICATION SHEET, AND MEDICATION TICKET

Another system that is commonly employed is the medication sheet or medication

administration record. This shows the drugs that are to be administered to the patient and those
that are previously administered. This helps in keeping track of the medications taken by the
patient and serves as a permanent record on the patient’s medical chart. This usually includes
demographics and prescription details. Aside from the systems mentioned, there is also the use
of the doctor’s order. A physician or doctor’s order is an authorization to perform laboratory tests
and also provides a prescription of medication to be administered. This also contains other
orders such as diet and therapeutic activities. The use of the doctor’s order is important in
preventing medication errors because this can help the nurse in making sure that the drug to be
administered is safe and correct. The medication prescription in the doctor’s order may be
compared to the medication sheet to double-check and avoid errors. The last system that can
be used is the medication ticket. A medication ticket is used to be able to guide the nurse to
easily follow the doctor’s written order with regards to drug administration. This usually contains
the patient basic information and the prescription details. When compared to the medication
sheet, a medication ticket is a more simplified form for it separates the different drugs to be
administered and shows the information for that specific drug. Usually, medication tickets are
color-coded depending on the frequency of the drug administration. Basically, the medication
ticket greatly helps the nurses to avoid confusion with regards to drug administration because of
the simplified information shown on the ticket together with the corresponding colors.

A medication error is a preventable event. Although nurses and other healthcare professionals
sometimes make mistakes, it is important to learn from these mistakes and take measures in
order to avoid the same mistakes. Particularly with regards to drug administration, nurses must
be extra careful because these drugs can either help the patient if properly administered or
harm the patient if not administered correctly. Therefore, nurses must be aware of the different
systems used in the healthcare setting particularly with regards to drug administration in order to
reduce or prevent the incidence of medication errors.
References:

Fontan, J. E., Maneglier, V., Nguyen, V. X., Loirat, C., & Brion, F. (2003). Medication errors in hospitals: computerized unit dose drug dispensing
system versus ward stock distribution system. Pharmacy world & science : PWS, 25(3), 112–117. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1024053514359

Webster, C. S., & Anderson, D. J. (2002). A practical guide to the implementation of an effective incident reporting scheme to reduce medication error
on the hospital ward. International journal of nursing practice, 8(4), 176–183. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-172x.2002.00368.x

Vera, M. (2020, June 30). The 10 Rights of Drug Administration. Nurselabs. Retrieved on April 16, 2020, from: https://nurseslabs.com/10-rs-rights-of-
drug-administration