Med Report: Challenges of medication administration in the OR
Linda Blevins MS, CRNA

$3.95 		OR Nurse 2013
January 2012 
Volume 6  Number 1
Pages 13 - 14
 
  PDF Version Available!

ABSTRACT
The "five rights" of medication administration have been ingrained into most nurses' minds. We confirm that we're giving the right medication to the right patient. We also confirm that we're giving the right dose of the medication. Finally, we verify that the medication is being given at the right time and via the right route.However, as the result of a patient death and subsequent court ruling, two more rights have been added: right indication for the medication and right documentation.1Even with seven checkpoints, the rapid pace of advancing technology makes it necessary to modify some details of these steps. Depending on your facility's policy, the added steps may be required as an effort to reduce the risk of medication errors. Still, the core steps of this protocol often serve as the foundation for building policies related to the safe administration of medication to patients.But what about in the OR, where the environment and routines are so different from other healthcare settings? Can the seven rights serve as a practical and realistic approach to protecting patients from medication errors?According to the findings of a recent study, the answer is no.2In January 2011, nursing researchers shared the results of a study that examined the unique demands of the OR and how these demands affect the challenges of safe medication administration. Hicks and colleagues analyzed the standard elements of medication administration and how this process usually provides a system of checks and balances that can help reduce the incidence of errors. Then, they evaluated the medication administration process, as it relates to the OR. They concluded that the OR presents far more opportunities for error, and for a variety of reasons.2In order to do a comparison, the researchers needed to establish which elements are involved when administering medication in a healthcare setting. To do this, they used a preexisting framework that defined these elements, and divided them into six main

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