Administering Medication
Medication can be administered once the nurse assesses the patient and deter-
mines that the medication can be administered safely. The nurse follows imple-
mentation procedures for administering medication.
- Check the prescriber’s medication order
The initial step in administering medication is to read the medication order
that is written by the prescriber to make sure that the proper medication and dose
is administered to the patient. The prescriber’s medication order is found in the
patient’s chart. - Check the Medication Administration Record (MAR)
The medication administration record is a transcription of the prescriber’s
medication order. Many times the MAR is a computer-generated document,
but sometimes there will be handwritten entries in the MAR. Compare the
MAR with the prescriber’s medication order to assure that the proper medi-
cation, dose, and other aspects of the medication order have been properly
transcribed. - The nurse should check all medications prescribed to the patient even if
he or she will not be administering all of the medications while taking care
of the patient.
The MAR lists all medication that the patient receives including those
already given to the patient and medication that has been discontinued. It is crit-
ical for the nurse to review all medications and not just those that will be given
on the nurse’s shift because previous medications may still be active in the
patient’s body. Remember that some drugs have a long half-life making them
still a potential conflict with other medication days after it was administered to
the patient. - Check the patient’s allergies
Although the patient’s chart might indicate that the patient does not have
any allergies to medication or food, the nurse must review whether or not the
patient has allergies before administering medication. Sometimes the patient
may not have recalled any allergies when the patient’s history was taken, but will
recall an allergy after being questioned again by the nurse.
CHAPTER 5 Medication Administration^87