Patients are taking drugs for medication. What if drugs are the culprit in worsening the patients’ health condition? It could be so alarming, leading to mistrust of the medicines. The life cycle of the drugs might also depend on their safety.
The 5 Rs for medication safety
To guarantee the safe drug administration, nurses are encouraged to follow the 5 Rs or rights, namely:
- Patient
- Drug
- Route
- Time
- Dose
These Rs are significant because medication safety hong kong prevented errors in administration. Improper usage of the medicine can be money wasting and delay in treatment of the diseases. It also leads to poisoning if overdosed. Thus, observe the safe use of medicines:
- Follow the doctor’s prescription. Taking the exact amount of medicine following the doctor’s instructions, as poisoning can result from overdose and ineffective treatment resulting from insufficient dose. If you take antibiotics, you have to complete the treatment course to cure the disease. Once you don’t complete the course, you stop taking the drug when the symptoms persist, and germs in the body will develop resistance to the antibiotics afterward.
In case of chronic illness, such as high blood pressure, it is crucial to follow the doctor’s prescription and have regular follow-ups. Don’t change the dosage or stop taking medicine with the doctor’s instructions. In case you miss one dose of the medication, don’t double up the next day just to make up the dose. It may lead to poisoning or overdose.
- Don’t try to be your own doctor. When you are ill, consult your doctor. If you purchase over-the-counter medication, make sure to read the instructions and labels carefully. You must keep in mind that other people may have reactions to certain medicines. For instance, antibiotics like penicillin.
- Don’t take the same medicine as other people. Take note that similar symptoms don’t mean the same disease. It is very dangerous to use other prescribed medicine or leftover medicine from past illnesses. Follow drugs safety hong kong.
Store medicine securely
Always keep medication in a standalone cabinet with a lock. Never store medicine in food bottles. Never keep medicine in food containers. Keep medicine unreachable to the children. In general, medicines must be kept in a dry and cool place.
But, some such as liquid antibiotics and insulin products must be kept in a refrigerator. You should check the expiry dates of medicines and discard spoiled and expired medicines.
Take note that medicines cure an illness and not worsen it. Therefore, keep its safety to guarantee its credibility and efficiency.
