Table of Contents
Introduction
This document reviews a patient-Mary Scott- who has just been admitted to my unit. Mary Scott is 70 years old and has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and pneumonia. She is to receive the following medications-Lasix, 20 mg PO OD, Lanoxin, 0.125 mg PO daily, Ampicillin, 500 mg PO QID, Transderm-nitro patch, 5 mg daily and Milk of Magnesia, 30 mg HS PRN constipation. This document discusses the principles followed for the safe preparation of oral and topical medications that are to be administered to Mary Scott. Further, the work provides a list of subjective and objective data that would be used to evaluate Mary Scott’s response to the medications she is to receive. The document additionally describes the education that Mary Scott would receive to accompany the initial administration of the above medications.
The first step in preparing oral or topical medication is consulting the physician’s instructions or order on whether the medication are the right kind. Next the nurse must ensure that they wash their hands before handling any medications. The third step is reviewing the medications side effects. The nurse must compare the doctor’s order at least twice before administering them to the patient. Expiry dates must be reviewed and pertinent calculation done. Unit dose packaged meds should be placed in med cups. The patient’s id band must be reviewed and verified with the patient and other support staff. The medication must then be carefully transported to the patient’s bedside. The medications must be kept on nurse’s sight at all time and the patient should receive her medication at the correct time. It is vital to review the patient’s allergies before administering the drugs.
Objective data that evaluate Mary Scott’s response to the medications she has received include her heart rate, respiration, temperature and respiration. The subjective data that may be collected from Mary Scott will mostly depend on what she say. For example, she may say that she is tired, in pain, dizzy, fatigued etc. Upon administering of the medication for the two diseases that ail Mary Scott, the next step is determining the efficacy of the drugs administered. A review of symptoms that Mary Scott may have will determine the efficacy of the medications. The review of these symptoms would take both a subject and object approach depending on the symptoms. Some of the symptoms that Mary Scott likely surfers from include fatigue, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, rapid breathing, poor blood circulation, edema, cyanosis, chests pain, fever, fatigue, sweating, shortness of breath, lower than normal bodily temperatures, confusion et cetera (Hosenpud, and Greenberg, 2007). From these symptoms, it is possible to determine both objective and subjective data that indicate medication efficacy.
The patient is advised to keep active to help improve the pneumonia and the congestive heart failure. Mary must additionally be educated on what each medication treats, how much she should take, what to do if she misses a dose, proper storage, how best to dispose the medication once expired, possible side effects and possible food and medication interactions. Mary must moreover be instructed on the type of foods to avoid and special diet instruction to conform to. Personal hygiene is another area that Mary Scott will be educated on (Bastable, 2016). Instruction on bathing and toileting will be given to Mary to help her with personal hygiene. Mary will additionally be educated on possible emotional reactions, feelings and interpersonal functioning as a result of the medications she is taking.
- Bastable, S. B. (2016). Essentials of patient education. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
- Hosenpud, J. D., & Greenberg, B. H. (Eds.). (2007). Congestive heart failure. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.