Maths Assignment: Medication Safety Strategies for Nurses

This Maths Assignment delves into the critical topic of medication safety within the nursing profession. The student expresses a positive attitude towards mathematics, highlighting its importance in ensuring accuracy in administering medications. The assignment outlines several strategies to prevent medication errors, including adherence to institutional policies, effective reconciliation procedures for patient transfers, read-back verification of prescription orders, proper medication storage, and the use of drug guides and documentation. The assignment also emphasizes the use of various resources at the point of care, such as drug guides and experienced nurses, to clarify any issues with drug administration. Furthermore, the assignment identifies high-alert medications that require extra care during administration, referencing the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. The student concludes by emphasizing the impact of incorrect medication on patient outcomes and the importance of meticulous practices to ensure patient safety.

Running Head: MATHS ASSIGNMENT 1
Maths Assignment
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Maths Assignment 2
Mathematics is an interesting subject that engages one mentally. I enjoy solving
mathematical problems. Compared to other subjects, I rarely get bored when studying maths. My
mathematics ability is rarely affected by my feelings. Even when I feel tired, I am still able to
carry out mathematical problems correctly, albeit at a slower pace. However, in cases when I
have extreme fatigue or drowsiness, I may be unable to perform this tasks with the accuracy
desired. In general, my feeling towards mathematics is positive.
As a nurse, precision in the administering the correct medicine in the right doses is of
paramount importance. Administration of the wrong type of medicine or recommending the
wrong dosage might have detrimental effects on the patients. It can lead to drug resistance,
exacerbate the ailment or in severe cases cause death. Administration of incorrect medication is
common in emergency departments in hospitals. It is normally caused by a combination of
factors. To avoid the risk of this happening, several strategies can be employed to ensure that the
correct medication is administered.
One of the strategies that I would use is to ensure that I follow all the required institution
policies regarding the prescribing and administration of medicine. This will ensure that the
correct medicine is administered to the right patient in the correct dose and at the prescribe time
(Minority Nurse, 2017). Secondly, for patients transferring from one unit to the other or from one
institution to the other, I would employ effective reconciliation procedures to ensure that correct
medicine is administered as per the transfer order. Additionally, the information can be verified
by contacting the transferring institution or close friends and family.
Another strategy that I would employ is to ensure that I read back the prescription orders
to the prescribing physician as a way of counter checking that the correct medication has been
transcribed for the right patient. Also, I would ensure that all medication is properly stored with

Maths Assignment 3
an aim of increasing efficiency and ease of identification. Those that are required to be
refrigerated are kept in refrigerators and the others at room temperature (The American College
of Obsetricians and Gynecologists, 2012). I would also ensure that I have a drug guide available
every time to ensure that I can reference any necessary information such as generic names of
medicines. Finally, I would ensure everything is documented to avoid errors. Additionally, I
would ensure that all medicine is properly labeled and all prescription information is legible.
When administering medication at the point of care, several resources can be used to
prevent administration of the incorrect medication. One of the resources that can be used include
always having a drug guide either in electronic or print format. This would help to clarify any
questions regarding drug administration. Other nurses would prove to be of importance when one
is administering drugs as they would help in clarifying any issues that I may have. Some nurses
have a vast experience in drug administration that would prove valuable when dealing will point
of care administration. Company policies and guidelines on the administration of medication
would be of use in my practice. These policies guide nurses and medical practitioners on the
institutions acceptable methods of drug administration.
Transcription documents where physicians are of great value when administering drugs.
These documents contain the names of the drugs which should be administered, the correct doses
and the patients to which they should be administered. These documents can be carried by a
nurse for reference when administering drugs to bedridden patients. Most drug packages contain
inserts which have guidelines that can be used by a nurse when administering medicines. This
inserts contain information such as dosage limits for various categories of individuals, side
effects and what ailments on which the medicine can be used to treat (Jenkins, MD, & Vaida,

Maths Assignment 4
2007). Due to their small sizes, these documents can be carried by the nurse for reference when
administering drugs at the point of care.
Different medicines cause different effects when administered or prescribed wrongly.
Some can cause injury while other can cause even death. Several type of medicines are
considered high risk and require extra care when being administered. As per the Institution for
safe Medication Practices, these drugs include intravenous (IV) lidocaine, vinCRIStine, sodium
chloride for injection greater than 0.9%, morphine injection, insulin, potassium chloride for
injection concentrate, neuromuscular blocking agents (e.g., succinylcholine, rocuronium,
vecuronium), inotropic medications, IV (e.g., digoxin, milrinone), cardioplegic solutions, and
adrenergic agonists, IV (e.g., EPINEPHrine, phenylephrine, norepinephrine) (Instute for Safe
Medication Practices, 2018).
References
Instute for Safe Medication Practices. (2018, August 28). Instute for Safe Medication Practices.
Retrieved from Instute for Safe Medication Practices:
https://www.ismp.org/resources/high-alert-medication-survey-results-lead-several-
changes-2018
Jenkins, R. H., MD, & Vaida, A. J. (2007, February). FPM. Retrieved from Simple Strategies to
Avoid Medication Errors: https://www.aafp.org/fpm/2007/0200/p41.html
Minority Nurse. (2017, October 23). Minority Nurse. Retrieved from Minority Nurse:
https://minoritynurse.com/10-strategies-for-preventing-medication-errors/
The American College of Obsetricians and Gynecologists. (2012, August). The American
College of Obsetricians and Gynecologists. Retrieved from The American College of

Maths Assignment 5
Obsetricians and Gynecologists: https://www.acog.org/Clinical-Guidance-and-
Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Patient-Safety-and-Quality-
Improvement/Improving-Medication-Safety?IsMobileSet=false