Comprehensive Nursing Pharmacology Q 200
The nurse is administering augmentin to her patient with a sinus infection. Which is the best way for her to ensure that she is giving it to the right patient?
A. Call the patient by name.
B. Read the name of the patient on the patient’s door.
C. Check the patient’s wristband.
D. Check the patient’s room number on the unit census list.
Correct Answer: C. Check the patient’s wristband.
The correct way to identify a patient before giving a medication is to check the name on the medication administration record with the patient’s identification band. The nurse should also ask the patient to state their name. The essential environmental conditions conducive to safe medication practices include (a) the right to complete and clearly written orders that clearly specify the drug, dose, route, and frequency; (b) the right to have the correct drug route and dose dispensed from pharmacies; (c) the right to have access to drug information; (d) the right to have policies on safe medication administration; (e) the right to administer medications safely and to identify problems in the system; and (f) the right to stop, think, and be vigilant when administering medications.
Option A: Calling the patient by name is not as effective as having the patient state their name; patients may not hear well or understand what the nurse is saying, and may respond to a name that is not their own.
Option B: The name on the door is not sufficient proof of identification. The “rights” of medication administration include right patient, right drug, right time, right route, and right dose. These rights are critical for nurses. The complexity of the medication process has led to the formulation of the rights of nurses in the area of medication administration.
Option D: Phillips and colleagues found that deaths (the most severe ADE) associated with medication errors involved central nervous system agents, antineoplastics, and cardiovascular drugs. Most of the common types of errors resulting in patient death involved the wrong dose (40.9 percent), the wrong drug (16 percent), and the wrong route of administration (9.5 percent). The causes of these deaths were categorized as oral and written miscommunication, name confusion (e.g., names that look or sound alike), similar or misleading container labeling, performance or knowledge deficits, and inappropriate packaging or device design.