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Nurse holding 2 white pills in her hand with a glass of water.

Critical Thinking in Medication Administration

Administering medications to patients is part of the plan of care in nursing practice no matter the care setting utilized. In today’s healthcare environment of ever expanding nursing roles and practice settings along with a wide variety of medication classes, newly created and off label drugs plus the use of multiple medication therapies per patient, medication administration safety standards mandate more scrutiny than ever.

To avoid medication errors and maintain professional standards of care, critical thinking must be integrated thoroughly and consistently into this area of practice. The technical aspects of handling and dispensing drugs must not be the sole focus of medication administration.

This medication administration online training course is designed to assist nurses in establishing best practices in medication administration safety through the development of multi-faceted critical thinking skills. These skills will enable recognition of all factors impacting medication administration safety for nurses, as well as preventing negative patient outcomes. You will also discover how critical thinking templates can be created to assist with promoting and developing critical thinking through the use of a case study.

Questions? Check out our FAQs page and How Online IV Certification Works!

Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the participant will be able to:

Identify practice implications beyond the 5 rights which assist in meeting medication administration safety standards.
Define the role of critical thinking and reasoning in medication administration.
Create a concept map as a thought processing template for use within care planning for ensuring medication administration safety.
Recognize the role of utilizing the nursing process in maintaining best safety practices in regard to medication administration.
State the necessary nursing actions required to safely administer medications in any care-giving situation or location.

Curriculum

Chapter 1: Defining Critical Thinking

Critical thinking and Bloom’s Taxonomy
Critical thinking and pharmacological knowledge
Critical thinking and nursing actions

Chapter 2: Using Critical Thinking to Recognize Barriers to Safe Medication Administration

Processes
Medications
Nursing care standards

Chapter 3: Integrating Critical Thinking Into Medication Administration

Thought process reframing
Incorporating critical thinking into care

Chapter 4: Creating Critical Thinking Templates

Use of concept mapping to develop a critical thinking template
A case study for application

Chapter 5: References

California Bill 241
Implicit Bias in Healthcare
What is Implicit Bias?
Implications of Implicit Bias in Healthcare
How to Reduce Implicit Bias

Price: $24.00

Contact Hours: 2

Course Author

Patricia Schmehl

Pat originally graduated from a diploma program and later went on to earn her BSN and MSN and now her DNP while continuing to practice critical care nursing. Currently she is a faculty member in the ADN program at Reading Area Community College in reading Pennsylvania. She is the author of a newly published book (Jones and Bartlett): Introduction to Concept Mapping: Critical Thinking in Action.

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Course Accreditation

See our Accreditation Statements page to view our accreditation information.