Question

As Dr. Sheila Pearson walks through the third floor nurses' area, she verbally orders the nurse to "Please start drug X four times per day to the client in Room 324; I will write the order later." What essential elements are missing from this medication order? What potential medication errors could occur? How does the nurse effectively address this order?

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

The physician forgot to advise the time interval in which the drug should be ingested, how long this treatment should be continued and the appropriate dosage to be offered to the patient. These are essential elements for a drug-based treatment to be effective and to actually help the patient.

This can lead to some medication errors, among which inconsistency and the correct period of time in which the patient should ingest the medication can be cited, this can harm the effect of the medication and cause problems for the patient. Another error that can happen is the patient ingesting a smaller amount of medication than he needs, which will not solve the problem he has. In addition, the patient may ingest exaggerated amounts of medication, greater than he needs, which can cause intoxication.

The nurse must anticipate these errors and try to repair them. For this, it is important that she informs Dr. Sheila Pearson about the lack of information about how the treatment should be established. Also, it is important that she read the medication directions to find more information about how it should be administered.