Principles of medicine management: safe practice

The safe administration of medicine entails a comprehensive set of procedures and protocols aimed at ensuring patients receive the correct medications, in the right doses, via the appropriate route and at the scheduled times. This article, fourth in the series, will outline the safe administration of medicines, including the skills and knowledge required by the healthcare assistant and assistant practitioner to safeguard patients using strategies such as the 9Rs to ensure medication safety. Adverse drug reactions and the importance of managing these effectively are discussed. The final aspect of the article considers the storage of medicines.