ADMINISTERING MEDICATION

Routes of administration

There are various routes of administration available, each of which has associated advantages and disadvantages. All the routes of drug administration need to be understood in terms of their implications for the effectiveness of the drug therapy and the patient’s experience of drug treatment.

• Overview of Medication Administration

  We take medications to diagnose, treat, or prevent illness. Drugs are potentially dangerous, even if they are meant to improve our health. It is important that you take any and all medications correctly, always following your doctor’s instructions. Always take all of your medication, and at the amounts and times the instructions say.

  If you are unable to give yourself a required medication, a nurse may help you. This may happen if you are in a healthcare facility, or if the medication is very difficult to take by yourself. Medications have different ways they need to be taken in order to work properly. Not all of these can be done at home or without special training.
  

• What Is Medication Administration?

  Medications need to be safe and effective. Doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and a few other professionals are trained in how to safely give you medication. Administration of medications requires understanding how the medication is entering your body. It also requires knowledge of when the medication needs to be administered, possible side effects, and toxicity. Training for professionals also includes proper storage, handling, and disposal of medications.

  Medication error due to the wrong drug, the wrong dose, the wrong timing of administration, or the wrong route of administration accounts for 1.3 million injuries each year in the United States, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, 2009).
  

• Route of Medication Administration

  Medication can be given many different ways. Some examples include:

  • oral route: swallowed by mouth as a pill, liquid, tablet or lozenge
  • rectal route: suppository inserted into the rectum
  • intravenous route: injected into vein with a syringe or into intravenous (IV) line
  • infusion: injected into a vein with an IV line and slowly dripped in over time
  • intramuscular route: injected into muscle through skin with a syringe
  • topical route: applied to skin
  • enteric: delivered directly into the stomach with a G-tube or J-tube
  • nasal: sprays or pumps that deliver drug into the nose
  • inhaled: inhaled through a tube or mask (e.g. lung medications)
  • otic: drops into the ear
  • ophthalmic: drops, gel or ointment for the eye
  • sublingual: under the tongue
  • buccal: held inside the cheek
  • transdermal: a patch on the skin
  • subcutaneous: injected just under the skin
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  Some routes may not be safe or effective. This can be due to certain health conditions, dehydration, an inability to swallow, or other factors. Proper preparation must be taken to prevent complications from the route of administration. For example, cleaning the skin and using sterile syringes when injecting via the intravenous or intramuscular routes is important for preventing infection.
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