There are Five Rights to Medication Safety. Some facilities and medical texts indicate a few more, but these five are common to all versions.
There are 5 basic Rights to Medication Safety. Nurses and other healthcare professionals are expected to adhere to these rules to avoid medication errors and ensure medication safety in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, clinics and practitioner's offices.
These are rules that nurses need to teach to patients as well. Patients should learn to adhere to the 5 Rights of Medication Safety. How many times has there been a horror story (or near miss) about how Mary Jones accidentally took her husband Mike's medication by mistake? Some pharmacies are now color coding medication bottles for their clients to help avoid such errors. Even the best efforts are not always fool proof. Following the 5 Rights of Medication Safety, this type of scenario can be avoided.
Right Medication:
Is this the medication the practitioner ordered?
Is this a generic version?
Right Dose:
How many tablets or doses are to be taken each day?
How many times each day?
How long does the patient need to continue to take the medication?
Right Time:
What time of day should the medication be taken?
What about food?
Should it taken before a meal, with a meal, after a meal, or with a snack?
Right Route:
This includes such items as how to take the medication.
Is it to be swallowed or chewed?
Can it be crushed if necessary?
Take with a sip of water or a full glass?
Does it come in liquid form?
If it's an injection, is it intramuscular or subcutaneous? Has the patient or caregiver been instructed in administration?
If it's an IV med and the patient or caregiver is administering have they been adequately instructed?
Right Patient:
Is this the patient's medication or is it for someone else?
Never take someone else's medication.
Medication errors are all too often the result of carelessness. Taking and giving medications is an act that needs to be done carefully and taken quite seriously. All efforts need to be made to avoid errors. If patients or caregivers have questions they should contact the nurse, practitioner or pharmacist.
Each time a new medication is ordered, the patient and caregiver should review this information with the prescribing practitioner or office nurse. The pharmacist should also review it with them when the prescription is dispensed. If family members or other caregivers are involved in the administration or dispensing of medications they need to understand these steps in order to avoid medication errors.
Medications can be pre-dispensed in a variety of medication boxes with days of the week, as well as times of the day written on them. These help to ensure patients take the appropriate medications at the right times. They also make it obvious if a dose has been missed. Medication boxes should be set up carefully and monitored for compliance.
The copyright of the article Five Rights of Medication Safety in Public Healthcare Issues is owned by Kathy Quan . Permission to republish Five Rights of Medication Safety in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
The article is interesting and if intended for use by
patient and carer, my 2-bobs worth:
For your own health's sake,
the practitioner has a right to know all other medications...legal and
otherwise...you're on. Re-phrased, it's a patient responsibility. The
practitioner has a responsibility to advise the patient if the medication
is for a problem different to what the medication is usually prescribed
for. Re-phrased, the patient has a right to know the purpose of any
medication. The patient has a right to 'informed consent' and to seek a
review of their medication on their own initiative.
Generic?
Here, this is cheaper so I guess we have a right to the better version or
the cheaper version OR an explanation why it is NOT appropriate for us eg
some ingedients may counteract other medications.
Right dose?
Here, the pharmacist can download a 'Consumer Medicine Information' sheet
to know what is the <b>maximum</b> dosage recommended. Anything
ABOVE that may be wrong. I guess we have a right to the right dose but a
greater right to the right treatment.
<b>"Should it
before a meal, with a meal, after a meal, or with a
snack?"</b>
I'd add: With any liquid or with a full
glass of water?
Dec 15, 2007 12:31 PM
Kathy Quan :
Redback, Yes, I agree with your points and have discussed many of them
in other articles. Patients always need to inform ALL of their
practitioners of all medications they take including OTC meds and herbs.
By using one pharmacy, the pharmacist also knows what prescription
meds a person is taking and to check for issues.
There are many
other rights to medication safety that have been added along the way so to
speak, but these 5 basic rights are designed to make nurses, other health
care professionals, patients and caregivers stop and think and BE SAFE when
administering medications. If they observe these 5 basic rights, other
considerations for the individual situation should come to light as
well.
Unfortunately, this process is not always followed and
errors happen. For instance...even in the middle of the night if you get up
to take an aspirin, make sure you have the aspirin bottle....turn on a
light and double check!
Be SAFE and well.
Jun 19, 2008 10:23 AM
Naomi Giroux :
The TX Nursing Board now has 8 Rights. They have added Right
reason, Right documentation Right assessment both for
administration and response to medication.
Apr 21, 2009 3:23 PM
Guest :
hi there, in my workplace i give medications, the mar charts say
8am,12noon,6pm and 10pm, my work are asking me to do the evening tablets at
4pm, instead of 6pm and night at 8pm, instead of 10pm, can i refuse to do
this knowing its two hours before the mar chart states, is it illegal? Im
desperate to know where i stand
