How to Maintain Medication Administration According to Best Practice
The benefit of studying medication administration is that one can examine how new nurses can implement various actions that can assist with proper medication administration. Through literature that has been studied, it is apparent that new nurses must be constantly motivated to better his or her MAR because decreased competence in this provision of care could lead to adverse effects and possibly even the death of a patient (Jo et al., 2013). To prevent this, one intervention that could be implemented is the use of auditing programs (Hutchinson, Sales, Brotto, & Bucknall, 2015), where people can ensure that nurses are participating in safe medication practices. Hutchinson …show more content…
One of the factors that contributes to a decrease in best practice is fatigue: “16.5% of the nurses in a study by Deans (2005) identified fatigue as a cause of medication errors” (Canadian Nurses Association [CNA], 2010, p. 14). Consequently, nurses may need to alter their sleep patterns or change their work patterns in order to help with this problem (CNA, 2010). Surprisingly, another complication associated with the MAP is the mental health of nurses. According to Saleh, Awadella, El-masri, & Sleem (2014), issues with one’s mental health, particularly depression, play a factor in the efficiency of medication administration. Although some forms of depression are unavoidable, all nurses, especially those new to the field must commit to finding ways in which they can help themselves, such as by getting proper sleep (Saleh et al., 2014), as well as seeking help from others. In addition to depression, certain aspects of one’s life could also affect a nurse’s mental health and distract him or her from efficiently completing the medication administration, such as the passing of a patient to whom the nurse was close. With regards to patients who pass away, Houck (2014) discusses the concept of compassion fatigue, which may lead to depression. In response, it is suggested that different coping mechanisms, such as exercise or seeking spiritual care be implemented to help one manage this issue (Houck,
The benefit of studying medication administration is that one can examine how new nurses can implement various actions that can assist with proper medication administration. Through literature that has been studied, it is apparent that new nurses must be constantly motivated to better his or her MAR because decreased competence in this provision of care could lead to adverse effects and possibly even the death of a patient (Jo et al., 2013). To prevent this, one intervention that could be implemented is the use of auditing programs (Hutchinson, Sales, Brotto, & Bucknall, 2015), where people can ensure that nurses are participating in safe medication practices. Hutchinson …show more content…
One of the factors that contributes to a decrease in best practice is fatigue: “16.5% of the nurses in a study by Deans (2005) identified fatigue as a cause of medication errors” (Canadian Nurses Association [CNA], 2010, p. 14). Consequently, nurses may need to alter their sleep patterns or change their work patterns in order to help with this problem (CNA, 2010). Surprisingly, another complication associated with the MAP is the mental health of nurses. According to Saleh, Awadella, El-masri, & Sleem (2014), issues with one’s mental health, particularly depression, play a factor in the efficiency of medication administration. Although some forms of depression are unavoidable, all nurses, especially those new to the field must commit to finding ways in which they can help themselves, such as by getting proper sleep (Saleh et al., 2014), as well as seeking help from others. In addition to depression, certain aspects of one’s life could also affect a nurse’s mental health and distract him or her from efficiently completing the medication administration, such as the passing of a patient to whom the nurse was close. With regards to patients who pass away, Houck (2014) discusses the concept of compassion fatigue, which may lead to depression. In response, it is suggested that different coping mechanisms, such as exercise or seeking spiritual care be implemented to help one manage this issue (Houck,