Pharmacology in Nursing: Medication Errors, Ethical Principles, and Legislation

Running head: PHARMACOLOGY IN NURSING
Pharmacology in nursing practise
Name of the student
University name
Author’s note

1
PHARMACOLOGY IN NURSING
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Medication errors.......................................................................................................................2
Ethical principles........................................................................................................................3
Legislation..................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

2
PHARMACOLOGY IN NURSING
Introduction
The current assignment deals with the aspect of pharmacology in nursing. The study
here focuses upon an actual clinical scenario where the medicine administration and safety
and guidelines have been violated. The assignment further divides the drug into various
schedules as based upon some of these specifications the drug needs to be administered to the
patient. The medicine administration is further guided by a number of ethical principles and
legislations.
Medication errors
The current study is based upon the case study of Mrs. T who was a 74 year old
woman admitted to the psychogeriatric ward with psychotic stress or trauma. She was
administered a number a wrong medication owing to the negligence of the nurse. This
resulted in lethal health consequences within the patient. The patient had a past history of
depression, cholecystectomy, ischaecmic heart along with recurrent urosepsis. The patient
had also undergone aortic valve replacement in the year 2008 due to synocopal episodes.
Since the surgery, the patient had also experienced deteriorating health conditions such as
poor appetite, significant weight loss, reduced mobility and lethargy. The patient family had
mentioned that much of her deteriorating health conditions could be attributed to the presence
of depression in the patient and hence she required immediate intervention strategies. In the
psychogeriatric ward Mrs. was commenced on mirtazapine which was increased to 15 mg
after a week. The patient was to be transferred from the psychogeriatric unit to the psychiatric
hospital for the treatment of her major depression. However, before the transfer the nursing
professionals attending to Mrs. T had to ensure that she was provided with the required
medication doses so that later she does not miss them during the transfer process. It was seen
that instead of miratzapine the patient was provided with nitrazepam 15 mg, which was a