Administering and monitoring high-alert medications in acute care
Intended for healthcare professionals
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Administering and monitoring high-alert medications in acute care

Joseph Macale Ruff Cajanding Staff nurse, Liver Intensive Therapy Unit, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, England

The nurse’s primary role in the medication process is to ensure that drugs are administered safely to patients, thus reducing the risk of unnecessary harm or injury. High-alert medications are a particular concern for healthcare professionals, since they are associated with an increased risk of causing patient harm. This article identifies high-risk medications and outlines measures that can be used to prevent potential harm to patients as a result of these medications, including computerised provider order entry, Tall Man lettering, order sets, independent double-checks and proactive patient monitoring.

Nursing Standard. 31, 47, 42-52. doi: 10.7748/ns.2017.e10849

Correspondence

ruffcajanding@nhs.net

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Conflict of interest

None declared

Received: 20 February 2017

Accepted: 31 May 2017

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