According to estimates, at least 1.5 million preventable medication errors and adverse drug events occur each year in the United States. One-third of all medication errors occur during the administration phase of medication delivery (Durham, 2015). Medication safety is freedom from preventable harm with medication use; therefore, nurses must promote patient safety by understanding their contributions to the prevention of medication error (Choo, Hutchinson, & Bucknall, 2010). Additionally, a medication error is any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional. Thus, to promote medication safety, nurses must understand their roles in proper medication management and identify challenges that associated with medication safety. …show more content…
Before administering the medication, they must use pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles to understand the onset, peak, and duration of medication effects. This helps them to anticipate and counteract any adverse reactions and encourages timely medication administration (Durham, 2015). They must also be familiar with nursing implications such as the use of the 5 rights of medication administration. These rights ensure that the right patient is receiving the right dose of the right medication at the right time using the right route (Catalano, 2015, p.447). Although the rights are regarded as a basic standard for safe medication practice, nurses make administration errors despite having verified the five rights. The application of the rights, as well as a conducive environment without unnecessary of distraction and adequate knowledge of medication administration practices, improves medication safety (Choo, Hutchinson, & Bucknall,