Procedures and Protocols

Procedures and Protocols

Storage And Handling

Deanne is an employee who takes anti-inflammatory drugs home for her personal use. She will need to be aware of the following process and policies of medication storage. Medicines ought to be stored in an environment that is secure and which cannot interfere with their potency. Healthcare organizations should have policies and procedures for standard operating to ensure that recommendations made by the manufacturer are adhered to and to the relevant legislation, such as the storage of controlled drugs (Mansur, 2016). Drugs should be stored in a medical fridge or locked up in a cupboard according to the recommended range of temperature. The appropriate range of temperature should be monitored with both a fridge and a room thermometer which are needed for this to be possible. Organizational policies need to be available to ensure that medications that need storage in a medical fridge such as Syntocinn, are appropriately stored when used within a setting in the community. Nursing staff in a healthcare organization should follow the policy for the supply, storage, and administration of medication and disposal of controlled drugs that may be used in a community and hospital setting. Our assignment writing help is at affordable prices to students of all academic levels and academic disciplines.

Steps need to be taken to prevent potential harm and human error. Drugs should also be stored in a way that eliminates mix-ups between medications that have a similar appearance, for example, vials of sterile water and IV solutions bags, lidocaine, and normal saline (Holmström, 2017). Measures also need to be put in place to minimize any distractions that could occur in a care environment that is often busy when nurses are performing drug rounds and when making up IV infusions. Nurses should never prepare in advance; any injections needed for immediate use or administer medication that has been drawn into a syringe by any other person (other than themselves) when they are not in the presence of the other person.

Medication Policies, procedures, and practices

The first step is to prescribe medication by the physician or nurse practitioner. This is followed by ordering the drugs through the healthcare facility’s medication system, authenticating the orders by the pharmacist, procuring the medication and refill by the pharmacist, labelling the medication, and dispensing it to the patient. When the medication is procured from the manufacturer, the pharmacist receives it, authenticates it, labels it, and stores it in the right storage temperatures and conditions. After dispensing the medication to the patient, the patient is educated on how to partake of it and discontinue any out-of-date medications. The pharmacist will also point out if the medication is to be taken as needed, such as painkillers.

Prescribing Medication and Physician Oversight

The drug order should have specific essential details. These details include the individual’s name, the prescriber’s name, the drug name, the date when the order was written, the route of administration, and the frequency of drug administration. Medication can only be prescribed by a licensed practitioner such as the advanced practice nurse, nurse practitioner physician extenders and assistant, and a medical doctor. The prescribing practitioner ensures the appropriateness of medications, monitors for any development of side effects, documents the need for the continued use of the medication, orders specific treatment and monitoring protocols for cardiac disorders, seizure disorder, hypertension, and diabetes, monitors therapeutic blood levels; monitoring for the presence of side effects.

Ordering Medical Services and Authentication of Verbal Orders

Medical services can be ordered only by physicians licensed to prescribe medication-assisted treatment, opioid maintenance, ambulatory detox, crisis stabilization unit, medication administration, nursing assessment and health services, and psychiatric treatment. Authenticating orders will require the time frame for faxed or actual physician signature on verbal or telephone orders that a licensed nurse accepts. Verbal medication orders in clinics serving outpatients need to be faxed within 72 hours in person or by fax, while those of a crisis stabilization unit should be 24 hours.

A copy of the current prescription or physician order dated within the past 12 months should be placed in the patient’s records for all administered medication or self-administered medication under supervision. The patient record should also contain ongoing regular medications taken daily, over-the-counter medications, orders for discontinuation of the medications, and PRN medications.

Patient And Staff Education

The prescribing physician should educate the patient, in this case, Deanna, on the desired outcomes or benefits of the drug versus the side effects risk. The individual can request a change in medication, but this can only be done when the patient understands their decision to change medication.  The discussion on the risks and benefits of medications should be recorded in the patient’s medical records. A patient should sign a consent form or have a parent or physician extender sign the consent form (Martyn et al., 2019).

Staff should be trained on the benefits and risks of taking medication. They should be trained in medication monitoring and a patient’s right to refuse any medication. Additionally, staff should be trained on how to document requirements for medication.

Ensuring Accountability and Safety

It is important that practitioners use their professional accountability and clinical judgment in the administration of medication. Doing so will ensure that they act in a safe manner every time they prescribe medications, involve the patient, and put the interests of the patients first. Potential errors are possible when it comes to drug administration. Every staff member’s duty is to ensure patient safety by eliminating potential medication errors; this can be achieved by following the protocols laid for medication administration. Staff ought to be proactive in following the professional and organizational guidance in ensuring that the right medication is administered to the patient; at the right time, via the right route, and in the right dosage. Kuitunen et al. (2020) suggest that intravenous medication should be checked by two nurses before administration.

References

Holmström, A. R. (2017). Learning from Medication Errors in Healthcare: How to Make Medication Error Reporting Systems Work?

Kuitunen, S., Niittynen, I., Airaksinen, M., & Holmström, A. R. (2020). Systemic causes of in-hospital intravenous medication errors: A systematic review. J Patient Saf, 1-9.

Mansur, J. M. (2016). Medication safety systems and the important role of pharmacists. Drugs & Aging, 33(3), 213-221.

Martyn, J. A., Paliadelis, P., & Perry, C. (2019). The safe administration of medication: Nursing behaviours beyond the five rights. Nurse education in practice, 37, 109-114.

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Using the GCU Online Library and the Internet, research three sources and write a 750-1,500-word essay on the topic provided below.

Procedures and Protocols

Topic: There are many ethical and moral decisions to be made when drugs are available in a healthcare facility. As a department manager, develop a set of procedures and protocols regarding the handling, storing, and monitoring of drugs. Be sure to include generic drugs, controlled drugs, and all charting that may be necessary. Apply your policies to Deanna, an employee who takes anti-inflammatory drugs home for her personal use.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.