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In the know: Break down barriers for proper drug administration

Stressed Out Nurses Weekly, February 22, 2010

Developing expert practice habits will serve nurses well and protect patients from harmful drug interactions. One barrier to effective practice is thinking you know more than you do. Think of this adage: "If you can't show it, you don't know it." The nurse thinks he or she knows the details about a drug without doing the appropriate drug research is a classic example. Nothing takes the place of doing the required legwork, such as looking up the drugs for therapeutic action, side effects, clinical management, and cross-checking for drug interactions with other drugs on the patient's medication list.

Another barrier example is only researching a particular piece of the drug information, such as researching clinical management without reviewing how to administer the drug, the expected side effects, and the drug interactions.

For more barrier examples, check out HCPro's book Stressed Out About Drug Interactions.

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