Maintaining competence in nursing practice - Essay Example

I believe that this is an important part of my nursing practice because it would help ensure that my patients would essentially be protected from harm. It is important for me to know about the legal requirements in the administration of medications. These legal requirements are important in order to avoid medication errors, to manage adverse drug reactions, to manage side effect, and to ensure the proper administration of the drug (Garrett and Craig, n.d). It is important for me to improve my legal knowledge about the proper administration of drugs and to know the proper prescribing, compounding, dispensing, administration, education, monitoring, and use of the drug (NCCMERP, 2007).

I need to enhance my dispensation skills for these medicines because I would likely encounter and be asked to dispense medicines with similar packaging, medicines which are not commonly prescribed or commonly used, or medications which many patients are allergic to, and those which require testing to secure proper therapeutic levels (Hughes and Blegen, n.d). Medications which also sound alike are possible causes for errors. These risks are part of the practice and represent areas which I need to focus on.

I also need to consider the different “Rights” in medication administration in order to prevent medication errors. These “Rights” include the following: the right patient, the right drug, the right dose, the right route, and the right time (Fogarty and McKeon, 2005). By mastering these aspects of drug administration, I would be complying with the minimum legal requirements for drug administration. It is also essential for me to participate in case review activities because these case review activities can help in the assessment and evaluation of cases and activities within the nursing practice.

Each activity and case