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Introduction
Mistakes in the administration of medications cause high morbidity and mortality rates and are accountable for many deaths every year (Garrouste-Orgeas et al., 2012). In this regard, the concept of drug safety becomes important in the provision of health care and nursing care in particular. This concept fundamentally states that the work of a nurse who is involved in delivering a drug therapy to a patient is to ensure that dosage, regularity, and other aspects of the prescription of medication are complied with consistently according to the approved treatment plan. However, Kee, Hayes, & McCuistion (2014) regard medication safety as not only a concept but also a nursing process that is part of patient-centered collaborative care. According to the authors, the main components of the process are assessment, planning, nursing interventions, patient teaching, and evaluation.
Assessment
First of all, the assessment will include the examination of vital signs. In case abnormalities are detected, they should be reported immediately to other members of the medical team because abnormalities may indicate conditions in which particular drugs cannot be taken, i.e. the drug safety approach will be undermined. Second, the work of a nursing care provider is to explore patient history; unbeknown to the patient, particular conditions, or health-related events in the patients pastor in his or her family may turn out to be important factors in the process of planning a drug therapy. Importantly, a nurse should assess the patients ability to take prescribed drugs; for example, the ability to swallow in case oral administration is prescribed. In case a patient currently takes any medications, it should be recorded, too. Finally, a nurse should consider mediation storage, i.e. ensure that the facility (e.g. in terms of refrigerator storage) meets the patients needs for medications.
Planning and Nursing Interventions
Second, planning as a component of the drug safety approach refers to ensuring that patient safety will be maintained/protected related to medication administration and use (Kee et al., 2014, 129). Third, nursing interventions may encompass a vast array of activities; for example, nurses are responsible for calculating doses correctly. Also, contamination should be avoided, i.e. medications should be contained and delivered to patients properly according to instructions that may be specific to a particular drug. It is noteworthy that nurses should establish favorable communication conditions in which they can explain how a medication should be taken or used. Nursing care providers should monitor the intake of drugs, i.e. stay with the patients until the drug is taken. All the events of taking medications should be properly documented, and all the waste, such as needles and syringes, should be discarded in appropriate containers.
Patient Education, Evaluation, and Conclusion
Fourth, nurses should provide proper patient education to ensure that patients can implement self-care measures independently and effectively (Koh, Brach, Harris, & Parchman, 2013). Primarily, a nurse practitioner should explain to a patient (and his or her family) what adverse effects can be expected from the use of a particular drug. Further, it is necessary to advise the patient on lifestyle aspects, e.g. what foods should not be consumed or what activities should be avoided during the period of administering a drug. Importantly, a nurse should instruct a patient on the schedule of taking a drug; this includes the meal consideration, i.e. whether a drug should be taken before, with, or after meals. Finally, the evaluation component of the drug safety approach has two elements: evaluating the patients understanding of instructions and evaluating the effectiveness by monitoring the patients state. In any nursing practice, the presented drug safety approach should be applied to ensure positive outcomes for patients.
References
Garrouste-Orgeas, M., Philippart, F., Bruel, C., Max, A., Lau, N., & Misset, B. (2012). Overview of medical errors and adverse events. Annals of Intensive Care, 2(2), 1-9.
Kee, J. L., Hayes, E. R., & McCuistion, L. E. (2014). Pharmacology: A patient-centered nursing process approach (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Koh, H. K., Brach, C., Harris, L. M., & Parchman, M. L. (2013). A proposed health literate care model would constitute a systems approach to improving patients engagement in care. Health Affairs, 32(2), 357-367.
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