The Fundamentals of Assisting with Self-Administration of Medicine Training equips healthcare providers with essential knowledge and skills to support patients in safely managing their medications. Participants will learn about different medication forms, how to assess a patient’s ability to self-administer, and how to develop personalized assistance plans. The course also covers best practices for medication storage, handling, and disposal, along with patient education strategies and methods to identify common medication errors. Understanding these fundamentals ensures patient safety, reduces medication-related risks, and enhances overall healthcare quality.
What You Will Learn:
- Different forms of medication
- How to assess a patient’s cognitive and physical ability to self-administer medications accurately
- Personalized plans that outline the level of assistance needed for each patient
- Best practices for the safe storage, handling, and disposal of medications
- Educating patients about their medications
- How to identify common medication errors
Details:
Course length: 2 hours; CME: 2
Languages: American English
Key features: Audio narration, learning activity, and post-assessment.
American Medical Compliance is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education to physicians. Our Continuing Medical Education (CME) program is committed to enhancing the knowledge, skills, and professional performance of healthcare providers to improve patient care outcomes. Through high-quality educational activities, we aim to address the identified educational gaps and to support the continuous professional development of our medical community. American Medical Compliance designates this activity for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. Physicians should only claim this credit for their complete participation in this activity.
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Understanding Medication Administration
Ensuring that the medication to be administered is identical to the drug name that was prescribed.
Some brand names or generic names may have very similar spelling or sound very similar due to prefix, suffix, or starting with the same first letter.
For example, beta-blocker medications all end in ‘-lol’ to aid in suggesting their mechanism of action.
It is important to discern between two similarly named medications since the two drugs in question may have drastically different mechanisms of action or indications for prescribing.
Except for nurse practitioners who have the qualifications to prescribe some medications in limited situations, nurses cannot legally prescribe drugs.
After affirming the name and expiratory date of the intended drug, nursing providers should also develop a routine habit of explicitly asking patients about known allergies or history of an allergic response to a drug they are about to administer.
A potential barrier that nurses may face is a patient’s misunderstanding of what qualifies as a hypersensitivity reaction, versus a negative symptom which they perceived as a negative experience.
This course teaches healthcare providers to verify medications match prescriptions to prevent errors. They will learn how similar drug names can cause confusion and why precise identification is critical. The training covers confirming expiration dates, recognizing allergic reactions, and distinguishing true hypersensitivity from adverse effects. Providers will also learn about ways to prevent medication errors and resident’s rights. These skills improve patient safety, reduce errors, and boost provider confidence.
Administering in the Right Route
Medications can be given to patients in many different ways, all of which vary in the time it takes to absorb the chemical, time it takes for the drug to act, and potential side-effects based on the mode of administration. Some common routes include:
- Oral
- Intramuscular
- Intravenous
- Topical, or
- Subcutaneous injection.
In modern medicine, medication administration has become more complex with the development of drugs that can be given via newer routes, including but not limited to:
- Central venous catheters
- Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA)
- Epidural infusions, and
- Intrathecal administration.
It is crucial that nurses remain educated and up to date on newer medications or less commonly administered medications to learn how they are safely delivered to patients before being asked to do so in clinical practice. Additionally, nurses must have at least a minimal basic understanding of the physiology influencing drug absorption rates and time of drug onset, as these principles relate to medication administration.
For example, medications that are to be delivered intravenously will likely have a higher bioavailability and faster onset of action as they are introduced directly into venous circulation for distribution, as opposed to an oral medication that must first undergo digestion, absorption, and filtration through hepatic circulation.
This course covers medication administration routes, including oral, intramuscular, intravenous, topical, and subcutaneous. Also, newer methods like central venous catheters, PCA, epidural infusions, and intrathecal delivery add complexity. Providers will learn to stay updated on safe administration. Understanding absorption rates and onset times is crucial, as intravenous drugs act faster than oral ones. This knowledge improves safety and medication management.
Medication Administration by Unlicensed Assistive Personnel (UAP)
All licensed/certified home health agencies providing administration of a medication by an UAP (HHA, PCW, other) must meet the following conditions:
The agency has written policies and procedures designed to provide safe and accurate administration of medication. Personnel assigned to administer medications shall follow these policies. This shall include the required documentation of the name of the medication, the dose, the route of administration, the time of administration, and the identification of the person administering medication.
There is a written delegation of this nursing act (medication administration) by the registered nurse (nurse aide assignment sheet).
Also, there is documentation to support the educational preparation of the caregiver who administers medications.
There is immediate and accessible supervisory support available to the caregiver administering medications.
Patients must be informed prior to delivery of service that unlicensed personnel will administer their medications.
Overall this course trains healthcare providers to ensure safe medication administration by unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP). Providers enforce documentation, ensure policy compliance, and verify caregiver training. They learn the registered nurse’s role in delegation and the need for supervisory support. The course also stresses informing patients before UAP administer medications. This training strengthens compliance, safety, and medication management.
Medication Errors
When a medication is administered in any way other than how it was prescribed; administering a medication that is not prescribed for a resident is also a medication error.
When the Medication Aide does not transcribe a physician’s orders correctly, does not compare the instructions on the medication administration record (MAR), and the directions on the bottle, or the approved ways to administer the medication an error may occur.
Medication errors often have serious outcomes. Administering medications carries a great responsibility including a need for being extremely careful and methodical. Mistakes in giving medications are one of the most common causes of harm to residents under the care of others. Giving the medication to the wrong resident can be a dangerous error.
- Giving a medication to the wrong resident
- Giving a medication at the incorrect time
- Omitting a dose
- Giving the wrong dosage, an extra dose, or medication by the wrong route
- Giving the wrong medication
- Or giving an expired medication
