This document discusses medication administration. It defines medication and describes the roles of medication in treating illness. It outlines various routes of drug administration and factors that affect drug absorption and effects. The document also discusses drug orders, prescriptions, and the rights of medication administration. It provides guidance on documenting medication administration and addressing errors.

1. MEDICATION
King Saud University
College of Nursing
NUR 122

2. Medication: substance administered for the
diagnosis, cure, treatment, or relief of a
symptom or for prevention of a disease.
Medication or drugs are given to exert
specific physiologic effects on the body.
They play an important role in preventing,
treating, and curing illness, their
administration has become one of the most
important, complex and risk-laden aspects
of nursing care.
Drug administration

3. Routes of drug administration
 Oral: Per mouth
 Sublingual: under the tongue
 Buccal: against the cheek
 Pareneteral: IV, IM, SC, intradermal, intracardiac,
intrathecal,intrapleural, intraosseous
 Topical: skin, eyes, ear, nose, rectum or vagina.
 Effects: local, systematic.
 Medication are prescribe by physician.
 Medication order includes the name of the drug,
the dose, the route, frequency, date and time.

4. Effects of Drugs
 Therapeutic effect = desired effect
– Reason drug is prescribed
 Side effect = secondary effect
– Unintended, usually predictable
– May be harmless or harmful
 Drug toxicity
– Result from overdose, ingestion of external use
drug
– Buildup of drug in blood

5.  Drug allergy
– Immunologic reaction to drug
– Mild to severe reactions (anaphylaxis)
 Drug tolerance
– Need increasing doses to maintain therapeutic
effect
 Drug interaction
– One drug affecting effect of another

6. Actions of Drug on the body
 Pharmacodynamics:
– Process by which drug changes the body
(mechanism of action).
 Pharmacokinetics:
– Study of absorption, distribution,
biotransformation, and excretion of drugs

7. Absorption: movement from the
administration site into the bloodstream.
 Distribution: transportation of the drug from
its site to the site of action.
Metabolism: the drug is converted by
enzymes into a less active form that can be
excreted, (most drugs are metabolized in
the liver).
Excretion: elimination from the body. The
kidneys are the most important route.
Pharmacokinetics

8. Drug Nomenclature
 Chemical name — describes the chemical
constituents of the drug
 Generic name — assigned by the
manufacturer that first develops the drug
 Trade name — brand name given by the
company that sells the drug

9. Drug Preparations
 Oral:
– Capsule, pill, tablet, suspension, syrup
 Topical:
– lotion, ointment, suppository, transdermal patch
 Injectable:
- Vial, Ampoule

10. Mechanisms of Drug Actions
 Drug-receptor interaction — drug interacts
with one of more cellular structures to alter
cell function
 Drug-enzyme interaction — combines with
enzymes to achieve desired effect
 Acting on cell membrane or altering the
cellular environment

11. Factors Affecting Drug
Absorption
 Route of administration
 Drug solubility
 pH
 Local conditions at site of administration
 Drug dosage
 Serum drug levels

12. Adverse Effect of Medications
 Iatrogenic disease: disease caused
unintentionally by medical therapy.
 Allergic effects: immunologic reaction to the
drug.
 Toxic effects
 Drug interactions

13. Signs and Symptoms of Drug
Allergy
 Rash
 Urticaria
 Fever
 Diarrhea
 Nausea
 Vomiting
 Anaphylactic reaction

14. Factors affecting
Medication action
 Developmental considerations
 Weight
 Gender
 Diet
 Genetic and cultural factors
 Psychological factors
 Illness & disease
 Environment, timing of administration

15. Types of Medication Orders
 Standing order — carried out until cancelled
by another order
 Prn order — as needed
 Stat order — carried out immediately & once

16. Parts of the Medication Order
 Patient’s name
 Date and time order is written
 Name of drug to be administered
 Dosage of drug
 Route by which drug is to be administered
 Frequency of administration of the drug
 Signature of person writing the order

17. Medication Prescription

18. The 7 rights
1. Right Medication
2. Right Dose
3. Right Rout
4. Right Time (b.i.d, t.i.d, q.i.d. q8h)
5. Right Client
6. Right information
7. Right Documentation

19. Controlled Substances
Required Information
 Name of patient receiving narcotic
 Amount of narcotic used
 The hour narcotic was given
 The name of physician prescribing narcotic
 Name of the nurse administering narcotic

20. Oral Medications
 Solid form — tablets, capsules, pills
 Liquid form — suspensions, syrups
– Oral Route — having patient swallow the drug.
– Enteral route — administering drug through an
enteral tube
– Sublingual administration — placing drug under
tongue
– Buccal administration — placing drug between
tongue and cheek

21. Administration of Parenteral
Medications
 Subcutaneous injection — subcutaneous tissue
(0.5-1 ml)
 Intramuscular injection - muscle tissue (1-3ml)
 Intradermal injection — corium (under
epidermis) (0.1 ml)
 Intravenous injection — into a vein
 Intracardial injection — heart tissue
 Intraperitoneal injection — peritoneal cavity
 Intraspinal injection — spinal canal
 Intraosseous injection — bone

22. Sites for Intramuscular Injections
 Ventrogluteal site
 Vastus lateralis site
 Deltoid muscle site
 Dorsogluteal site

23. Ventrogluteal site

24. Vastus Lateralis site

25. Copyright 2008 by
Pearson Education, Inc.
Deltoid Site

26. Copyright 2008 by
Pearson Education, Inc.
Dorsogluteal Site

27.  Route of administration
 Viscosity of the solution
 Quantity to be administered
 Body size
 Type of medication
Criteria for Choosing Equipment
for Injections

28. Topical Administration of
Medications
 Eye: eye drops, ointments
 Ears: ear drops
 Nose: nasal drops
 Rectal: suppositories
 Skin applications: ointment, cream lotion

29. Medical Record Documentation
 Document & sign each dose of medication,
as soon as it is given, and the patient
response.
 Intentional or inadvertent omitted drugs.
 Refused drugs.
 Medication errors.

30. Type of Medication Errors
 Inappropriate prescribing of the drug
 Extra, omitted, or wrong doses
 Administration of drug to wrong patient
 Administration of drug by wrong route or rate
 Failure to give medication within prescribed
time
 Incorrect preparation of a drug
 Improper technique when administering drug
 Giving a drug that has deteriorated

31. Medication Errors
 Check patient’s condition immediately;
observe for adverse effects.
 Notify nurse manager and physician.
 Write description of error on medical record
and remedial steps taken.
 Complete special form for reporting errors.

32. Patient Teaching
1. Review techniques of medication
administration.
2. Remind patient to take the medication as
prescribed for as long as prescribed.
3. Instruct patient not to alter dosages without
consulting physician.
4. Caution patient not to share medications
with others even if they have the same
disease.