Medication Administration Policy

In order to ensure safe and accurate patient care during clinical rotations that involve medication administration, the student nurse is required to adhere to the following guidelines in accordance with the hospital’s policies and procedures and regulations and clinical faculty/Registered Nurse expert discretion.

1. Students MUST:
   1. Complete a medication exam with a passing score of 90% prior to medication administration on the unit specific to the assigned clinical rotation within the first 2 weeks of the semester.
      1. Student must prepared to fully participate in clinical by the third week in NUR3262L. Students will take the medication Administration Exam prior to clinical rotation.
      2. There is a three exam attempt limit. If the student is unsuccessful after the third attempt, the student cannot meet the course objectives and cannot progress in the clinical course, therefore a grade of "U" is earned.
   2. Administer medications with the direct supervision of the clinical faculty or assigned Registered Nurse expert.
2. Beginning in NUR4716L the student may irrigate IV lines with saline flushs only with direct supervision of clinical faculty and/or Registered Nurse expert.
3. Students must adhere to the College of Nursing Medication Administration Policy and the Clinical Partner's Student medication Administration Policy.
   1. The student must always follow both policies. If the clinical Partner's policy allows administration of 5.a - e below the student must adhere to the CON policy.
4. Students MUST:
   1. Administer medications with the direct supervision of the clinical faculty or assigned Registered Nurse expert [preceptor]
   2. Beginning in NUR 4716L the student may flush peripheral IV lines with saline flushes only with direct supervision of clinical faculty and/or Registered Nurse expert. [NUR 4716L is a prerequisite to NUR 4829L]
5. Even if allowed by the Clinical partner's Student Medication Administration Policy, students MAY NOT administer
   1. Blood products
   2. IV push medication
   3. IV narcotics medications under any circumstance
   4. Drug during a "Code"
   5. Central line flushes (i.e., porta-cath or PICC line)
6. Students are not allowed to accept verbal or telephone orders from any healthcare provider.

PROCEDURE: The student must

1. Identify key information regarding the medication to not be administered:
   1. Mechanism of action
   2. Major side effects and incompatibilities
   3. Rationale for medication use
   4. Correct medication dosage/IV rate calculation completed
   5. Available assessment considerations (i.e. BP, HR, drug levels, blood sugar)
   6. Selection of proper needle/syringe size, site (for IM/SQ administration), and volume capacity for site chosen
   7. Saline flush guidelines
2. Identify/verify patient’s allergies prior to medication administration.
3. Identify the eight rights of medication administration as follows:
   1. Right patient
   2. Right medication
   3. Right dose
   4. Right route
   5. Right time/frequency
   6. Right patient education
   7. Right documentation
   8. Right to refuse
4. Maintain standards of patient safety, including proper hand washing and clean or sterile techniques, and disposal of shards as appropriate during the entire medication administration process.
5. Use two patient identifiers prior to medication administration to ensure safety. According to JCAHO, acceptable identifiers include:
   1. The individual's name
   2. An assigned identification number
   3. Telephone number
   4. Date of birth
   5. Social Security number
   6. Address
   7. Photograph
6. If the Clinical Partner's policy allows, document with the clinical faculty or Registered Nurse expert's supervision in the patient's medication administration record providing correct medication, dose, and administration time according to the institutional procedures along with the licensed personnel's signature/initial

I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE ABOVE POLICIES AND GUIDELINES. I RECOGNIZE THAT FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THESE GUIDELINES MAY RESULT IN IMMEDIATE DISMISSAL FROM THE CHRISTINE E. LYNN COLLEGE OF NURSING.

Student Signature:__________________________

Date:_________________________

Approved by the UPC 4/9/18