Administering Medication: A Guide for Nurses

Felicia Tyson

Stephanie Moldawsky

Sci. Tech Report writing

February 20, 2016

How to Properly Administer Medication To a Patient

Introduction

Medications are taken to diagnose, treat, and prevent illness. They come in many different forms and can be taken in several different ways. In a hospital, the job of administering medication is performed by registered nurses. Medications can be very dangerous though they are meant to improve your health, therefore nurses must be taught and perform the proper steps in this procedure. This set of instructions will inform anyone that is unaware of how to administer medication about the correct way to perform the task.

Before beginning the task the nurse must be able to understand a few basic concepts

If there is any doubt that it might be the wrong medication and ask questions.

Right medication

Providing the correct medication to a patient can determine whether or not their illness will get better. To avoid mistakes, there are a few basic steps to follow when preparing medication.

Read the label carefully.

Most medications have can have more than one name (including a generic name).

Carefully read the medication order. The medication name should match the medication order.

Look at the medication to see if there are any visible differences. If there are, and ask for help.

Right dose

This step refers to how much of a certain medication a patient is supposed to receive at a single time.

The dosage is the strength of the medication multiplied by the amount of medication.

Example:

For this prescription, the patient is supposed to take 7.5 mL of a 250mg/5mL medication. Therefore, the patient must be given 375 mg (7.5 mL) of the medication for each dosage.

Compare your calculations to the medication label. If it does not match, or you have any doubts, and ask