Comcept Analysis Topic Compliance in Nursing and allied Healthcare - Essay Example

It cannot be denied that safe medication is a part of the patient's practical healing process. In lieu of this, do nurses really have to know of the processes of self medication so that they too can eventually share the information to their future patients Nurses comprise the largest single component of hospital staff, they are the primary providers of hospital patient care, and they deliver most of the nation's long-term care. Most health care services involve some form of care by nurses. Although 60 percent of all employed Registered Nurses (RNs) work in hospitals, many are employed in a wide range of other settings, including private practices, public health agencies, primary care clinics, home health care, outpatient surgicenters, health maintenance organizations, nursing-school-operated nursing centers, insurance and managed care companies, nursing homes, schools, mental health agencies, hospices, the military, and industry.

Other nurses work in careers as college and university educators preparing future nurses or as scientists developing advances in many areas of health care and health promotion (http://nursing.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htmsite=http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education/Career.htm, 2004). With these very special functions of nurses, it is then became imperative for them to acquire additional skills and knowledge that would help them in the successful attainment of all the nurse's common goal, hence, the safe medication management should be imparted as additional skills for nurses.

All nurses have been taught with the five rights of medication administration. The right patient, the right drug, the right dose, the right routine and the right time are the very foundation from which nurses practice safely when administrating medications to the patients in any health care setting (http://www.lklnd.usf.edu/Colleges/Nursing/nursing.html, 2005).Just as nurses know the five rights of medication administration, they should also know the safe medication management techniques, which will surely guide nurses as they continue to care for patients despite these turbulent times.

(http://www.lklnd.usf.edu/Colleges/Nursing/nursing.html, 2005). The six safety medication management practices are as follows: Complete and Clearly Written Order Any nurse should know that they should always see to it that they have order which is complete and clearly written. They have the right to require that the drug, dose, route and frequency be written by the physician. All of these components must be present for a physician order to be considered complete (http://www.lklnd.usf.edu/Colleges/Nursing/nursing.

html, 2005).Correct Drug Route and Dose DispensedNurses administer medications but it is the pharmacy's duty to dispense medications correctly. A recommendation from the Massachusetts Hospital Coalition states that a unit dose system of medication can decrease the number of medication errors. Many hospitals have adopted this system of medication administration (http://www.lklnd.usf.edu/Colleges/Nursing/nursing.html, 2005). Access to InformationNurses should be updated and have an easy accessible drug information.

This means that the hospital formulary, a Physicians Desk Reference and a current nursing drug reference book need