The nurse is making her first set of rounds in the morning. In doing so, she meets a patient whom she has never worked with before. She introduces herself and explains the plan of the day

Question

She also asks the patient how he normally takes his morning medications, such as before breakfast, after breakfast, or during breakfast. She does this because most of the morning medications in that institution are scheduled by pharmacy for 0900 . Getting to know her patient will allow her to a. Choose the most appropriate time to give the medication.
b. Explain to the patient that he will not get his medication at his usual time.
c. Know what information to put on the medication error report form.
d. Evaluate whether or not the patient is taking his medication correctly at home.

Answer 1

A
"Knowing the patient" is at the core of the process nurses use to make clinical decisions. Knowing when the patient normally takes his medication will allow the nurse to keep him on as near normal a schedule as possible. Nothing in this question infers that the patient will not get his medications on time, or that a medication error report will need to be completed. Although the nurse can be using this opportunity to evaluate whether or not the patient is taking the medication correctly at home, the main purpose, within this context, is to determine the most appropriate time to administer the medication.