Nurses play an important and unique role in medicine administration. They are typically the last person to check before administering the prescription that it was prescribed and dispensed properly. Additionally, instruction on the “five rights” or “five R’s” of drug administration—a guide to clinical medication administration and maintaining patient safety—is a requirement during nursing education. These ‘rights’ emerged in the medical field at a time when patients were less involved in their own treatment and it was accepted practice that a provider’s mistake was solely their responsibility.
What you will learn:
- Introduction to the roles of nurses
- ‘Right patient, right drug, right route, right time, and right dose’
- Issues of concern in teaching the rights
- Clinical significance of the rights
- Nursing interventions to improve patient safety
Details
Course length: 30 minutes; CEU: 0.5
Languages: American English
Key features: Audio narration, learning activity, and post-assessment.
ACCME Accreditation
American Medical Compliance is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education to physicians. Our Continuing Medical Education (CME) program is committed to enhancing the knowledge, skills, and professional performance of healthcare providers to improve patient care outcomes. Through high-quality educational activities, we aim to address the identified educational gaps and to support the continuous professional development of our medical community. American Medical Compliance designates this activity for a maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. Physicians should only claim this credit for their complete participation in this activity.
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Nursing Rights of Medication Administration Training
As was previously mentioned, this course will educate nurses on the Five Rights of medication administration. The five rights include the right patient, the right drug, the right route, the right time, and the right dose. In medication administration, it is vital that nurses have a clear understanding of each of these components. This will also ensure that a patient is receiving quality care. By being incorporated into the approaches used to teach nursing students about the uses of the “rights” framework in clinical practice, the “five rights” are extremely clinically significant.
Right Patient
This component of the five R’s focuses on the care the patient is receiving and that they are the right person to take a specific prescription. Additionally, the simplest way to do this is for nurses to ask a patient directly for their complete name out loud and, if necessary, to check medical bracelets for ID numbers that match those on the chart.
Right Drug
The second component of the five R’s allows nurses to make sure the medication being delivered has the same name as the one that was prescribed. It is extremely important to be able to identify the correct drugs and minimize any potential errors. Also, understanding how a patient could be confused and knowing when to check for critical information is vital as well.
Right Route
Moreover, the “right route” is the third “right” of administering medicine. Medication administration to patients is done in a variety of ways. Each approach also differs in its effect on the rate of absorption, the time it takes to start working, and the likelihood of side effects.
Right Time
In addition, it is crucial to administer drugs at the time the prescriber intended. There are a variety of benefits associated with administering medication at the correct time. Various medications frequently have predetermined intervals or window periods during which another dose should be administered. Taking specific medications in the morning or evening may also help sustain a certain therapeutic effect or level.
Right Dose
Lastly, when administering medication to a patient, it is also important to know the correct dosage of the prescribed medication. Incorrect dosage, conversion of units, and incorrect substance concentration are prevalent modalities of medication administration error.
Interprofessional, Nursing, and Allied Health Team Interventions
To deliver high-quality, patient-centered care and advance for overall wellness, it is essential to prioritize patient safety and care quality. They are key elements of nursing practice. Unfortunately, medical mistakes happen frequently in clinical settings and can seriously jeopardize a patient’s safety in addition to being quite expensive for hospitals.
