With ill patients, there are three main reasons to administer medication: diagnosis to identify the cause of an illness, treatment to reduce symptoms and fight the illness and prevention to stop an illness or disease from developing in advance.
Depending on the illness and the form of the medicine, the administration (or the route the medicine takes into your body) will differ, which is why we’ve put together this article detailing the routes and rights of administering medication.
Routes
Oral administration is one of the most common methods, consisting of tablets, lozenges and liquids among others. Inhalation and nebulisation are also done through the mouth (and nose), but bear the distinction of being inhaled rather than ingested. Mists are provided to patients through breathing apparatuses such as masks, tubes or inhalers, as explained here:
For those who can’t swallow medication, suppositories can be administered rectally, providing an alternative to oral administration.
The skin can also provide a route for medicine, allowing for transdermal administration through patches and creams. Injections are typically administered intrathecally, subcutaneously, intravenously and intramuscularly – or, in English, through the spine, skin, veins or muscles respectively.
These methods should not be taken lightly, and you can find courses on the safe handling of medication from specialist training providers such as tidaltraining.co.uk/health-and-social-care-courses/safe-handling-of-medication-training.
Rights
Now that we know the routes, it’s important to know the rights – the correct corresponding factors for medication administration. Of course, the right route is the first item on the checklist, using our previous knowledge to assess the best method.
The right route is irrelevant if you don’t have the right patient, which is achieved through proper identification and double-checking of information. Giving medication to the wrong patient could do nothing or could seriously harm them, neither of which is desirable.
You should be just as thorough with selecting the right medication – medication that is checked twice, properly prescribed and not expired.
Finally, we have the right dosage and the right timing, with proper measurements appropriate to the relevant patient being prepared, and a precise timetable being provided for visiting and self-medicating patients alike.