Pharmacology skills are the skills related to the administration of medication. These skills are very important for the nurses as they play an important role in administering medication to the patients. Pharmacology is the study of medication and how different drugs affect different people out there. The pharmacologists keep examining different drug use on different diseases. The nurses need to have chemical knowledge (chemistry) as well. Pharmacology is a whole different subject under nursing which means a whole assignment on this topic. Nursing assignment help can ease your work on this topic relating to your assignment.
Administering Medications
Medicines are taken to prevent or cure some illnesses. Defining administering medications can be done by saying, giving entire attention to the medication for the patient without any distractions. Medicines or drugs can be dangerous if taken or given in the wrong quantity, or to the wrong person without checking if it’ll suit the patient or not. People have many allergies to different drugs and without checking can be deadly for the patient. This risk can’t be nullified, but can be reduced by having the right knowledge about the medications.
There are different ways in which a drug enters or is routed inside the body of the patient, and it depends on three basic factors:
- The body part that is being treated.
- The formula of the drug.
- The way the drug reacts inside the body.
Administration of medication needs a thorough understanding of the drug and the human body including some other points which are mentioned below:
- How the drug moves through one’s body.
- When does the drug need to be administered?
- Proper storage, disposal, and handling of the drug or medication.
- Possible side effects and dangerous reactions of the drugs in the patient’s body.
The Six Rights of Medication Administration
The six rights of medication administration include:
- Right Route- This means giving the drug to the patient from the right route and as per ordered by the heads. Giving medication or a drug from the right route is very essential as the whole body is interrelated and the route through which the drug is given ensures maximum effectiveness on the body part which is targeted to be treated.
- Right Documentation- This means documenting the correct administration of medication as soon as it is prescribed. There are always chances for people to forget things over some time. When something is told to the nurse regarding the medication of the patient, documenting it helps the patient as well as the nurse with the right medication and the right way in which the drug is given to the patient.
- Right Drug- This means giving the right drug and medication to the patient. This is the basic step of the administration of medication. Giving the exact drug to the patient and knowing the medical history of the patient is important as it helps the doctors and the nurses with giving the patient the best medical aid possible. Some people have allergies to some drugs that can be deadly for the patient. Hence, the knowledge of the right drug is important.
- Right Time- This means confirming the timing of the medication and how many doses and how much of the dose is to be given. Timing is very important for the administration of medication. Drugs given at the right can save a life, and given at the wrong time can put one’s life in danger. A slight delay can be dangerous for the patient.
- Right Dosage- This means giving the right amount of dosage to the patient. Giving the right dosage to the person is very important. The dosage is given according to the age, body composition, and allergies of the patient.
- Right Patient- This means confirming if the patient is exactly whom the medicines are to be given. The identities such as the name and age of the patient should be confirmed before the dosage is given to them.
Drug Interactions
This refers to when the key component of a drug interacts with other drugs that the body is getting. When a patient takes medications for various illnesses, there are high chances of a drug reacting with other drugs. Hence, it is important to administer the medication. The reactions between the drugs can be deadly for the patient. The best possible drugs which are safe for the patient and even cure all the illnesses are to be prescribed to the patient by running all the tests.
Improve the Knowledge of Medications
Being a nurse, you are taught about the usage of medications and what to do during times of emergencies. Theoretical studies don’t give you all the knowledge you need. Doing things practically and getting practice in the field and the experience gives you the most and the best experience because then you know what happens when you do something.
Improvement is a life-long process. It keeps happening over time. You learn only through your experiences. Just because nursing is a profession where the slightest mistake can cost someone their life, extra precautions are needed to be taken.
Some nurses aren’t allowed to give medication to patients because of their previous experiences or mistakes.
Potential Problems
There can be a lot of problems related to the medications. The reactions between two drugs can cost a patient his/her life. Sometimes even allergies can be deadly to the patient. If the right drug is not given to the patient, he/she can lose his/her life.
To avoid such problems, you need to know about all the allergies and medical history of the patient.
Summing Up
There are a lot of issues in studying pharmacology. These are among the most important skills for nurses to inculcate. It takes time to understand these skills but it happens gradually. Pharmacology includes the study of biology and chemistry. Human anatomy and chemicals and how they react with each other need to be studied with more focus. High-Quality Assignment Help helps you with all your assignments and improves your student life as it saves your time which you would’ve given in searching and doing the assignments. We even guide you about different topics and other things as well.