Medication Administration Vocabulary
Professional Protocols for Medication Orders and Documentation
Medication Orders
Verbatim Definition: These are instructions written by a licensed provider for administration of a medication to a patient.
Foundational Role: These orders serve as the legal and medical basis for all pharmacological interventions in a clinical setting.
Source of Authority: The instructions must originate from a provider who holds the appropriate licensure to prescribe or order treatments.
Right Documentation
Verbatim Definition: This step always follows the administration of medications.
Core Function: It serves as a verification that all seven rights have been followed and documented in the chart.
Sequence: Documentation is not performed before or during the act of giving medicine, but as a subsequent confirmation of the completed task.
Clinical Integrity: Proper documentation provides a permanent record within the patient's medical history, ensuring accountability and continuity of care.
Rights of Medication Administration
Primary Purpose: These guidelines are used when administering medications specifically to avoid medication errors.
Scope: They represent a rigorous checklist that clinical staff must verify before the patient receives a dose.
The Specific Rights and Verifications Include:
Right Patient: Confirming the identity of the individual receiving the care.
Right Medication: Ensuring the correct drug is selected based on the provider's order.
Right Dose/Amount: Verifying the quantity or strength of the medication is accurate.
Right Route/Method: Confirming the way the medication enters the body (e.g., orally or via injection).
Right Time/Schedule: Adhering to the prescribed frequency or specific timing required for therapeutic efficacy.
Right Documentation: Finalizing the process by recording the event in the clinical record (note that while six are listed in this grouping, the related "Right Documentation" definition references a total of "seven rights").
Pharmacological Delivery Methods and Routes
Parenteral Route
Verbatim Definition: Other than by mouth.
Scope of Application: This encompasses all administrative routes that bypass the digestive system. Common examples in clinical practice include intravenous, intramuscular, or subcutaneous injections.
Clinical Distinction: The term differentiates these methods from enteral routes (standard oral administration).
Sublingual Route
Verbatim Definition: Under the tongue.
Mechanism: Medication is placed beneath the tongue where it is absorbed through the highly vascularized mucous membranes.
Advantage: This route typically allows for rapid absorption directly into the systemic circulation, avoiding first-pass metabolism in the liver.
Topical Applications
Verbatim Definition: Pertaining to a specific area; local.
Targeted Effect: Medications delivered via this route are generally intended to act upon the surface or within the localized area where they are applied, rather than having a systemic effect.
Common Usage: Often refers to skin applications, but can also include localized treatments for ears, eyes, or mucous membranes.
Classification of Semi-Solid Medicinal Preparations
Ointment
Verbatim Definition: A salve; a fatty, soft substance having antiseptic or healing properties.
Consistency and Composition: Characterized by a greasy or oily base that helps the medication adhere to surfaces and provides a protective barrier.
Therapeutic Utility: Primarily used for topical applications to deliver healing or antiseptic agents directly to the skin.
Salves
Verbatim Definition: An ointment.
Synonymous Nature: In clinical and pharmaceutical terminology, a salve is considered functionally equivalent to an ointment.
Application: Used for soothing, protecting, or healing specific localized areas of the body through a soft, fatty substrate.