Medication Management by Freshly Graduate Nurse - Reflective Writing

Running head: MEDICATION MANAGEMENT BY FRESHLY GRADUATE NURSE
MEDICATION MANAGEMENT BY FRESHLY GRADUATE NURSE
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

1MEDICATION MANAGEMENT BY FRESHLY GRADUATE NURSE
MEDICATION MANAGEMENT BY FRESHLY GRADUATE NURSE (REFLECTIVE
WRITING)
Medication management can be defined, as a patient specific care to optimize effective,
safe and suitable drug therapy. A patient is provided with care, with the collaborative action of a
multidisciplinary team. Registered nurses (RNs) are one of the important members of the
multidisciplinary team that influence a safer management of medications. As a new graduate
nurse I have received elementary knowledge about medication management through our entire
nursing program, yet I have faced with several new challenges while making a transition from
the university ambience to a clinical setting (Cheragi et al., 2013). As a nurse I should be able to
apply my knowledge about the patient and the medications. The process of nursing is not a very
linear process. A continuous assessment is being done at all the stages of the medication
management (Mirbahaet al., 2015). Newly graduate nurses are inexperienced; hence, it can be
difficult for them to monitor the medication protocol of a patient.
Apart from the types of drugs that have to be delivered, the correct method of drug
administration also plays a pivotal role in patient's safety. Nurses play a very significant
responsibility in the prevention of the medication errors. Most of the time, this is caused due to
the clinical personnel failing to do his duty correctly (Cheragi et al., 2013). Some of the common
medication errors that can, be caused by the registered nurses are omissions, administering
wrong drugs or wrong dosage of drugs, improper methods of delivery and wrong prescriptions. It
has to be noted that the work load, the responsibilities in a proper clinical setting is far more than
the student workload, exams, and placements, which can be some of the main causes of
medication errors (Keers et al., 2013). Newly graduated nurses are encountered with problems
like lack of pharmacological information, lack of monitoring of the pre- administered drugs. I

2MEDICATION MANAGEMENT BY FRESHLY GRADUATE NURSE
have come across one of my peers, who forgot to find out history of the adverse drug reaction in
a concerned patient.
When a nurse is undergoing training, the last thing that they are concerned is about the
documentations. there are few things that has to be kept in mind while charting for a patient-
Proper documentation of the drug administration and the doses, records of any discontinued
medications, records about drug allergy (Campbell et al., 2012)(if any).
I have grown and have developed skills through my personal experience placement so
that I can think, collect and foster a safe medication management. The correct procedures of safe
medication administration involve maintenance of an electronic medical record. In my nursing
course I have learned that liquid medications are measured by standard measuring containers.
Notably, while splitting the tablets, it should be ensured that the medications are scored by the
manufacturer and the medication is splitted evenly. According to Campbell et al., (2012), it is
important to carry out the some assessments before the application of certain medications. I have
learnt that it is necessary to monitor the heart rate before the administration of antidysrhythmic
medications. The duty of a nurse does not end with this. It is necessary to monitor the response
of the patients to the medications, especially when we are applying the medications for the first
time. In my learning career I have also learned about the importance of recording the site of
injections. For high alert medications, it is essential to double check the doses. The Australian
commission on safety and quality in health care (ACSQH) has developed medical charts in order
to standardize the medication management and increase medication safety. There are separate
medication charts for the paedriatics, aged care and more. I have always tried to keep an eye on
these charts in order to develop my pharmacological skills.