As a medical assistant, you must be prepared to administer
drugs safely and effectively. Before you can do so, however,
you must be familiar with the metric, apothecaries',
and household systems of measurement. You must also be
able to convert measures from one system to another and
perform calculations to provide a prescribed dose. For both
of these skills, you can use the ratio or fraction method.
When preparing to administer a drug, assess the patient
for contraindications, and observe the general rules
and seven rights of drug administration. Depending on the
prescription, the drug may be administered by the oral,
buccal, sublingual, intradermal, subcutaneous, intramuscular,
nasal, topical, transdermal, vaginal, or rectal routes
or as eyedrops or eardrops. If directed, assist the physician
or nurse with urethral administration and IV drug injection
or infusion. Patient education is an important responsibility related
to drug administration. You may need to instruct patients
in the proper use of a prescribed drug. In addition,
you may have to teach them to prevent or to recognize and
report drug interactions and adverse effects.
Some patients require special consideration when receiving
drugs. These include pediatric, pregnant, breastfeeding,
and elderly patients as well as patients from
different cultures. Nonpharmacologic methods for managing chronic
pain are gaining acceptance. Patients who are interested in
learning about such methods should ask the physician for
further information. |