Reflective Essay on Safe Medication Administration in Nursing Practice

This reflective essay, written by a Bachelor of Nursing student, explores an incident encountered during a clinical practice unit. The essay utilizes the Gibbs reflective cycle to analyze the student's experience with medication administration, focusing on oral, subcutaneous, and intravenous methods. The student reflects on their own practice, highlighting adherence to safe medication protocols, and contrasts it with observations of peers' performances, noting both good practices (e.g., subcutaneous injection) and errors (e.g., improper intravenous administration). The essay emphasizes the importance of safe instrument handling, patient well-being, and the need to identify and mitigate risks. The student outlines an action plan that includes time management, scrutiny of drug charts, and proper instrument handling. The conclusion underscores the value of the reflective process in enhancing future practice and ensuring patient safety. The essay also references key literature on nursing practice and medication safety.

Running head: BACHELOR OF NURSING
Bachelor of Nursing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1BACHELOR OF NURSING
Safe medication administration is one of the primary responsibilities of a nurse. I will use
the Gibb’s reflective cycle in this essay to reflect and consciously think about an incident that
occurred during my first year clinical practice unit. We were asked to demonstrate administration
of medication in compliance to prescriptions in a hospital ward simulation setting.
The reflective essay begins with my good practice of oral administration. Our mentor
illustrated the importance of safe medication administration and assigned us the task of
administering oral, subcutaneous and intravenous medicines on mannequins. Before the oral
administration, I referred to the prescription charts and confirmed the dosage of the drug. I read
the information printed in the leaflet of the drug to obtain information on the brand of morphine
being used. I was able to administer 20mg morphine tablet with water on time. This was good for
my OSCA. In addition, two other students had to administer injections subcutaneously and
intravenously. One of the students Chandra (pseudonym) showed good administration of heparin
sodium subcutaneous injection. She checked the order validation, cleaned the area where the
injection was to be administered and pinched the skin in upper abdomen to insert the needle at an
angle of 45 degree followed by its quick withdrawal. The needle was safely disposed. However,
another friend Clara (pseudonym) showed poor intravenous medicine administration. She did no
wash her hands and did not check for presence of infection. She did not comply for safe
instrument and needle handling. She did not dispose the used needle in a sharp container.
I was quite confident of safe oral medicine administration and maintained a calm
composure while performing my task. On observing both my friends, I could identify from their
mistakes and learned the strategies that I would implement in my future clinical practice. The
presence of mannequins in the CPU enabled us to master the skill of safe medicine

2BACHELOR OF NURSING
administration in a simulated environment. This provided an opportunity for enhancing
proficiency.
Safe medical administration is essential for a good nursing practice and maintaining
patient wellbeing (Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 2017). From the above incident, I learnt the
steps that need to be followed to reduce medication errors. This event helped me realize that
medical history and safe injection administration form a vital component for providing care
(Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O'Grady, 2013). I learnt that safeguarding a patient’s wellbeing is of
utmost importance and we must always identify risks that can threat a patient’s life (Zaccagnini
& White, 2015).
My action plan includes confronting a health practitioner if the treatment goes wrong,
proper time management and scrutinizing drug charts and following safe instrument handling for
injections (Coyne, Needham, & Rands, 2013). The CPU session therefore provided a training to
perform medication skills while maintaining calm mental state. This prepared me for the OSCA.
Thus, I conclude that this reflection will help me utilize the knowledge and perform
better for my future practice sessions. I learnt safe handling and disposal of medical instruments.
I should always ensure that nursing practice does not put our patients at risks.

3BACHELOR OF NURSING
Bibliography
Coyne, E., Needham, J., & Rands, H. (2013). Enhancing student nurses' medication calculation
knowledge; integrating theoretical knowledge into practice. Nurse education today,
33(9), 1014-1019.
Hamric, A. B., Hanson, C. M., Tracy, M. F., & O'Grady, E. T. (2013). Advanced Practice
Nursing-E-Book: An Integrative Approach. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au. (2017). Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Fact sheet:
Enrolled nurse standards for practice. Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au. Retrieved 4 October
2017, from http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/FAQ/
Enrolled-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx
Zaccagnini, M., & White, K. (2015). The doctor of nursing practice essentials. . Jones & Bartlett
Learning.