The Process of Medicine Administration - Essay Example

Practicum Project: Safe Medication Administration Goal ment: As a nurse educator, my practicum experience goal is to positively contribute to the nursing field by using core competencies I have gained during my nurse educator program in helping nursing students understand the importance of safety in drug administration. Introduction Over time, there have been concerns in the nursing field on the various incidents of unsafe medicine administration. A study by Hughes and Blegen (2007) indicated that errors related to administration of medicine are becoming a major concern among the causes of mortality and morbidity. In 2007, alone the death rate stood at 7,000. This concern led to the Institute of Medicine to come up with a report dubbed “Preventing Medication Errors” (Hughes & Blegen, 2007). The report emphasized on the need to practice safe medication administration. Six years later, the problem still exists and there although many measures have been put in place, there are still cases of unsafe drug administration in chemist, hospitals, and pharmacies. It is for this reason that I have gained a lot of interest in the field of pharmacology. Therefore, as a nurse educator my aim is to bring change into the nursing field by ensuring that my students gain a comprehensive understanding in safe administration of medicine. As a nurse educator in pharmacology, I have had to read extensively on the current situation concerning pharmacology and the arising issues and changes in the nursing field related to medication. The process of medicine administration is continuously becoming complex because of the continuous production and discovery of new drugs in the market. The number of prescribed medicine per patients is also playing a major role in this trend (Garrett & Craig, 2008). Another important factor that is playing a key factor in the medication field is the rapid change in medical technology and the several procedures and policies that have come up. Over the years, as I have progressed with my career I have come to discover that pharmacology, either as a course or part of a course for a nursing education is a very important element for any health care practitioner. A safe medication process and use are two essential principles that contribute towards a “safe use of pharmacological agents in perioperative clinical practice” (Hicks, Wanzer, & Goeckner, 2011). According to Hicks, Wanzer, and Goeckner (2011), proper use of medication involves the following steps obtaining, prescribing, recording, dispensing, administering, and finally monitoring. However, it is important to stay aware of variations that occur in the medication-use process that originate from the demands that may arise uniquely to the perioperative environment. These variations are the main cause of many instances of medicine use bypassing safety requirements within the system. My practicum project is about Safe Medication Administration. As a nurse educator, I have the strong will to bring a change in pharmacological field, which I believe has started to become a global problem. I believe that for there to be a change it must start at an individual level. Therefore, my engagement in this field is to bring a significant change towards achieving safe medication administration by starting with the students I will be teaching. This improvement will positively affect my practicum site [name of site] and will further improve the situation for other organizations where the nurses I will be teaching will be posted. During the period of the practicum project, I will be teaching nursing students how to effectively pass medication and how to ensure a safe medication administration and use. I will actively use modern technology such as simulation medication carts in the lab sessions to teach students how to effectively pass medication. The set-up of the teaching environment that I will work in, will involve medication carts, which I will label myself. Further, I will also incorporate a medication record that will consist of fake medicine, and will incorporate use of simulation dummies. At the end of the practicum experience, I should have managed to positively contribute to the nursing field. This is will be through the use of core competencies I have gained during my nurse educator program in helping nursing students understand the importance of safety in drug administration. Practicum Experience Objectives To help me achieve my set goal in this practicum experience I have laid down some objectives, which I should accomplish by the end of the practicum experience. At the end of the practicum experience, I should: 1. Read More