N104: Essentials of Nursing Care - Health Safety

N104: Essentials of Nursing Care – Health Safety Study Guide • Check the labels and compare them with the order. Also, always look at the characteristics of the medications when preparing them. • If a medication that is supposed to be clear looks cloudy, discard the drug and get a fresh one. Drugs that come in single dose preparations should be sealed and not tampered with. Never store excess medications from single doses. • Compute dosages correctly. Most mistakes come from incorrect computation of drug dosages. Make sure computations are correct by double checking them, if in doubt, ask another colleague or check with the dosing information of the drug. Brush up on your dosing math and conversion skills. • Limit conversations when you are on your way to administering medications. Concentrate on the task at hand, as attentiveness is the most important aspect of safety. • Date all multi-dose vials when opened. Look for the expiration date and make sure it isn’t expired. • When giving medications through any kind of tube (IV, NG, etc.) always check the placement of the tube before instilling any medication. • When giving an unfamiliar medication, look up information before giving the drug. • Pour liquid medications away from the label so that any drips do not obscure any part of the label. • When preparing a syringe with medication for injection, if the dose is not to be given immediately, label the syringe with medication, dosage, and patient name so that there is no doubt about the medication. • Be patient when administering medications to elderly, impaired, or pediatric patients. These patients may require extra time and assistance. • Stay with every patient until all the medications have been taken. • Observe any patient taking a new medication to ensure that adverse reactions do not occur. • Do not leave medications unattended. • Never "borrow" medication from one patient to give to another. The only exception to this is the use of stock medications in multi-dose vials. • Dispose of medications properly. Know the policies for disposal of controlled substances. • Return unused medications to the pharmacy. • Keep the medication area or cart clean and uncluttered. • Prepare medication one patient at a time to avoid mix-ups. 8.3 Medication Measurement, Conversion, and Calculation Systems of Measurement Medications are typically measured using one of three systems: apothecary, metric, or household. The apothecary system is no longer used very extensively. The most common use of the apothecary system is in the measurement of grains (gr) for a fewmedications. Much more common are the metric and household systems ofmeasurement.

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