The Importance of Six Rights: An Evidence-Based Nursing Research

This reflective writing recounts a clinical experience where a nursing student identified a potential medication error by adhering to the six rights of medication administration. The situation involved a post-operative patient on an epidural catheter who was prescribed Demerol, a narcotic contraindicated during epidural infusion. The student's diligence in reviewing the medication order and consulting with a supervisor prevented a serious adverse event, highlighting the critical role of evidence-based practice and attention to detail in ensuring patient safety. This narrative emphasizes the value of the six rights of medication administration as a framework for preventing errors and promoting safe nursing practice. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

Running head: EVIDENCE BASED NURSING RESEARCH
Evidence based nursing research
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1EVIDENCE BASED NURSING RESEARCH
During one of my clinical placement, I was assigned to take care of a 65 year old patient,
who came back to the ward after a hip replacement surgery. I joined in the night shift after the
hand over nurse in the day shift handed me the patient’s medication chart and left in a hurry.
When I took over the nursing care for the patient, the patient was placed on an epidural catheter.
The only instruction that the handover nurse gave was that the patient needs to be given Demerol
75 mg every three hours to control his pain. However, I did not rushed to just give the
medication. I followed the six rights of medication administration and in doing so, I came
through an important message printed in the medication order from anesthesia. It was written in
that no narcotics or sedatives should be provided to patient during infusion of epidural drug. This
message gave me the warning I was about to commit a serious medication error if I had rushed to
give the medication to patient without reviewing the medication order. As I was not sure whether
I should continue with giving the prescribed medication or not, I decided to consult my nursing
supervisor on the matter. I quickly called up my nursing supervisor and inquired about the safety
of prescribing Demerol to patient. My supervisor applauded me for consulting before medication
administration and revealed that prescribed Demerol would have created serious issue for
patient. He might have also required mechanical ventilation. This gave me a very important
message that the six rights of medication administration is an appropriate framework to promote
safety of patient (Hayes et al., 2015).

2EVIDENCE BASED NURSING RESEARCH
References:
Hayes, C., Jackson, D., Davidson, P. M., & Power, T. (2015). Medication errors in hospitals: a
literature review of disruptions to nursing practice during medication
administration. Journal of clinical nursing, 24(21-22), 3063-3076.