Which of the following is not a nurse's role in drug administration?

Appeared in: NHM UP Staff Nurse - 2017

Explanation

The term "Right pattern" is not a recognized standard in the universally accepted "Rights of Medication Administration.".
The established rights focus on specific, verifiable checks to ensure patient safety, such as confirming the patient's identity, the drug name, the dose amount, the administration route, and the time.
While a nurse might consider a patient's pattern of symptoms or responses, "Right pattern" is not a formal safety check for the act of administering a drug.

Option A: Verifying the 'Right patient' is a fundamental and critical step in medication administration to prevent giving a drug to the wrong person.
Option B: Ensuring the 'Right dose' is essential to prevent underdosing (leading to ineffectiveness) or overdosing (leading to toxicity).
Option D: Confirming the 'Right drug' is a core safety check to ensure the patient receives the medication that was prescribed for their condition.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: Knowing Rights of Medication Administration helps nurses interpret findings accurately and avoid errors in routine assessment, medication administration, and patient teaching.
Adherence to the Rights of Medication Administration is the cornerstone of preventing medication errors, which are a significant cause of preventable patient harm.
These rights form a systematic checklist that nurses must use for every single medication administration, without exception, to protect both the patient and themselves from liability.
What if? If a nurse administers a medication based on the room number ('Right Patient' check skipped) and the patient in that bed had been switched, they could administer a potent antihypertensive to a patient with normal blood pressure, causing severe hypotension and potential collapse.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the negative keyword in the question: 'not'. This tells you to look for the option that is the exception or does not belong.
Recall the standard 'Rights of Medication Administration' that are taught in nursing fundamentals.
Systematically evaluate each option against this standard set of rights.
Option A ('Right patient'), Option B ('Right dose'), and Option D ('Right drug') are all core, universally recognized rights.
Option C ('Right pattern') is not part of this standard safety checklist. Therefore, it is the correct answer as it is 'not' a nurse's role in this context.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Rights of Medication Administration
Stem keywords: nurse's role, drug administration
Lead-in keywords: not
Negative lead-in flag: The question asks for the exception or the item that does NOT belong.

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E6 Pharmacology Nursing Lilley 11e Part 1 pp. 28-30, 62-64

E6 Nursing Fundamentals Potter Perry 12e Part 3 p. 149-151

Practise the full NHM UP Staff Nurse - 2017

Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.