Principles of drug administration: Rad Tech

The principles of drug administration are used in healthcare settings to safely prepare and administer drugs during imaging procedures. As a radiologic technologist, your understanding of medication safety principles is essential for ensuring accurate dosage, preventing medication errors, and protecting patient safety within the imaging environment. As a member of the healthcare team, you’ll also follow procedural guidelines designed by your healthcare facility.

The five rights of drug administration are considered the golden rules of safe drug administration. Following these principles helps reduce medication errors and protect patient safety. The rights are right drug, right dose, right patient, right time, and right route.

The right drug begins with carefully reading the label every time a drug is handled. Some medications have names that look or sound alike, so it’s important to verify the label at three separate checkpoints: when the medication is removed from storage, when it is prepared, and again before the container is returned. Medications that are not in its original labeled container, or a medication that’s expired should never be used.

The right dose means the medication is measured accurately and verified against the medical record before administration. Any unused medication should be discarded according to your facility’s policy and never returned to the original container.

The right patient is confirmed by checking a minimum of two patient identifiers. These are often determined by your facility and can include asking the patient their name and birth date, while also checking the medical record number or identification wristband. If any information doesn’t match, the procedure must stop until the discrepancy is corrected. Once the patient is properly identified, explain the medication and how it will be used during the procedure.

The right time is verified by comparing the medication order with the scheduled administration time. After a medication is given, the patient should never be left unattended because reactions can occur quickly. So, you’ll need to recognize signs of mild, moderate, and severe allergic reactions to the medication.

The right route ensures that the drug is given through the ordered route. Common routes may include oral, intravenous, intramuscular, or subcutaneous administration, and each route requires proper technique and safety practices.

Safe drug administration also depends on understanding the common units of measurement and medical abbreviations. The most common units of measurement you will see are liters, milliliters, grams, milligrams, micrograms, and kilograms. Because medications are often prepared and administered in very small amounts, careful attention to measurement is essential.

Healthcare providers often write a medication order using abbreviations, related to timing and route. For example, PO means a drug is administered “per os” or “by mouth” while q2h means a drug is administered every two hours.

However, some abbreviations are considered unsafe because they can easily be misread. For example, the abbreviation U or u meaning “unit” should not be used because it can be mistaken for 0. To reduce the risk of errors, your healthcare facility will use standardized abbreviations and may require certain terms to be written out completely.

Now, let’s switch gears and look at the various routes of drug administration. The major categories of drug administration are enteral, topical, and parenteral.