Medical Office Pharmacology: Review For Medical Assistant Students and Professionals
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HomeSafety Guidelines—The Five Rights
For medical assistants who need to brush up on certain areas in pharmacology as it applies to a medical office.
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The need for well trained medical assistants remains high. At any given moment there are over 100,000 job offers for medical assistants and other healthcare professionals available across the nation, hundreds in every state! Most disciplines require knowledge of medical office procedures and some pharmacology....
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Safety Guidelines—The Five Rights
Make No Mistake!
Medication errors refer to errors in the processes of ordering, transcribing, dispensing, administering, or monitoring medications, irrespective of the outcome (i.e., injury to the patient). One example is an order written for amoxicillin without a route of administration. Other medication errors have a greater potential for patient harm and so are often designated as "serious medication errors" or "potential ADEs", for example an order for amoxicillin in a patient with past anaphylaxis to penicillin.
Know Safety Guidelines!
Safety is paramount concern in drug administration!The "Five Rights" in administering medications are"
1. Right patient
2. Right time and frequency of administration
3. Right dose
4. Right route of administration
5. Right drug
Safety Guidelines in Administration of Medications:
Caregivers must administer only those medications for which the physician has written and signed the order and should check with the ordering physician or nurse when in doubt about any medications. When dispensing any medications, they must carefully check to make sure that everything on the medication order corresponds exactly with the label on the package or container, and medications that are not clearly tabled or unlabeled should never be used or put back into the cabinet!
When dispensing medications, all instructions must be followed precisely, and when in doubt about a drug name, dosage, and calculation the doctor, a nurse, or pharmacist should be consulted and asked to recheck and verify the prescription. The caregiver must read all directions, warnings, and interactions of the drug, then ask the patient and double check entries in the patient's chart to verify current medications and to see if there are any known allergies to medications, such as penicillin or sulfa drugs.
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Also Know The Following:
Metric System:
 Multiples of 10Volume (amount) of fluids – liter (L)Weight of solids – gram (g)Measure of length – meter (m)Milliequivalents (mEQ):
Concentration of electrolytesApothecary Measurement:
Basic unit for weight is grainSmallest unit for volume is minim |
Caregivers should not converse during medication administration, and rather, concentrate on the task on hand, because attentiveness is the most important aspect of safety, then watch the patient carefully for signs and symptoms of an allergic reaction or other complications. Everything must then be charted accurately into the patient's record and initialed, but only after the medication has been administered.
Do YOU know the answers to the following?
Whenever solving dosage problems the units of measurement must be converted to the same unit of measurement! If you find that you would benefit from reviewing this topic to solidify your understanding of medications, the metric system, and conversions, then check out this excellent pharmacology 
Online Study course!
Online Study course!1 gram = ______ milligrams (mg)0.001 gram = _____ milligrams (mg)1 kilogram = _____ grams (g)0.001 kilogram (kg) = _____ gram (g)1 liter (L) = _____ milliliters (ml) 0.001 liter (L) = _____ milliliters (ml)1 milliliter (ml) = _____ cubic centimeter (cc)1ml = ____ minims4-5 ml = _____ dram30 ml = _____ ounce500 ml = _____ pint1000 ml = _____ L = _____ quart60 mg = _____ grain1 kg = _____ pounds |
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To report illegal prescription drug sales and/or rogue pharmacies operating on the Internet call the anonymous Pharmaceutical Drug Abuse Hotline: 1-877-RxAbuse (1-877-792-2873).
More info at: DEA Website
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CONSUMER ALERT:
Buying drugs online may be illegal!
Federal law prohibits buying controlled substances such as narcotic pain relievers (e.g., OxyContin®, Vicodin ®), sedatives (e.g., Valium®, Xanax®, Ambien®), stimulants (e.g., phentermine, phendimetrazine, Adderall®, Ritalin®) and anabolic steroids (e.g., Winstrol®, Equipoise®) without a valid prescription from a doctor. This means there must be a bonafide doctor-patient relationship, which by most state laws requires a physical examination to receive a prescription. Prescriptions written by "cyber doctors" relying on online questionnaires are not legitimate under the law.
Buying controlled substances online without a valid prescription may be punishable by imprisonment under Federal law and it is a felony to import drugs into the United States and ship to a non-DEA registrant.
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This Website is protected by applicable copyright laws. No part may be reproduced, transmitted, or used in any way other than its intended purpose without prior written permission. Inquiries, contact Website owner: Danni R.
About the Author:
Danni R. has created this extensive resource in her capacity as certified medical assistant and medical assisting instructor at Porter & Chester Institute, Ultrasound Diagnostic School, and Branford Hall in 2003. You may also visit her other websites at Advanced Medical Assistant of America, Medical Assistant Net, Medical Billing and Coding Net, Medical Coding and Billing Home Page, and Phlebotomy Pages to get better acquainted with her work.