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Nervous about Med Administration
I'm a third year nursing student in PA, doing my clinical rotation @ Mercy Suburban Hospital. I find myself being nervous A LOT in the clinical setting when it comes to med administration. I'm great when it comes to PT communication though...Of course, my instructor has to be there and watch us give meds, but I desperately want to learn how to set up an IV right and work with IV meds/calculations more. We didn't go over it much in school yet, but I was wondering if any of you have any advice regarding more practice etc. I am thinking of doing an externship this summer as well to help with confidence issues. I understand many people get nervous when it comes to giving meds because medication errors are on the rise, but I was just wondering if you have any books/advice/clips--anything to help with this! Thanks=)!
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November 20th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
All of us were very nervous when we began giving meds, and the number you have the opportunity to give in school is not that high. Doing an externship over the summer is an excellent idea, and will help your confidence, charting, and learning many skills. However, most externships do not allow you to give meds, as you are not licensed. But don’t worry, because hospitals understand that students do not get enough experience in school to make them proficient and fast. The best advice I can give is to try to find a New Grad Residency program at the hospitla you choose for your employment, if you can. This will allow you more time in structured orientation, and with excellent Preceptors.
November 21st, 2008 at 6:33 pm
A little nervousness is not only normal, I think it can be good. Take the time to review the meds and then you can pass them with confidence. Never skip looking an unknown med up – that can not only lead to errors, but also deprives you of a great learning opportunity. Honestly, most of my medication learning (detail stuff) came on the job by looking up specific medications before I went to administer them. Once you find out what they are for, teaching your patient about them will help solidify it in your mind as well.
An externship is a great idea – even if you aren’t the one passing the meds, take notes and then review at home or when you have a free minute so you fully understand what they were and why they were given. It will only make you that much more confident when you do go to administer them yourself.
Some nurses I have seen with PDA’s which have medication information downloaded into them. This might be a good tool to help you feel confident so you know you can always look anything up at a moments notice and keep it right with you in your pocket.
Sounds like you are already on the right path, and your desire to learn even more is inspiring!
Good luck!
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:33 am
Here’s what works for me.
I am a nursing student as well and we started giving meds about a month ago. Here’s how I overcame my fears…..
First Look at you MAR BY TIME
Look for the meds that you CAN administer and write them down. Next look for the nursing assessments that go along with those meds. If you haven’t performed those do them right then and there. Next pull your meds and count them. I bought little labels at staples for my injections. I then bring my meds to the pt. room and check them against my list one more time. At that point my instructor looks at them and I give them. You’ll get better at it if you come up with a system to doing it every single time.
November 23rd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Thanks, you all are great! I appreciate it.
November 24th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Remember your five rights, med, dose, route, time, and pt (identification, allergies). I am not sure how much in advance notice you have, but I always had an Idea about the meds I would be giving. I had a 3×5 card box in alphabetical order that I could refer to so I did not have to make up new cards every time I just pulled them out and looked at them. Allot of time I would just print off the info I need like usual dose, route, how to give, action, interaction, special instructions, and tape them to the card so I could have it in my pocket. Good luck, keep calm.
November 25th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I am a nursing student in my first clinical and I gave meds for the first time last week. I was nervous about it. I had to keep checking myself to be sure I was doing everything on the laptop right and then checking and rechecking the meds to be sure they were the right ones. I had to hang a piggyback of an antibiotic and the nurse kept asking me how many ml per minute my patient would get. Ok 6:30 in the morning i have no clue what that will be. my instructor told me i should go back and check. I have one more med pass this semester so I feel like i will be better prepared this time.