Question

A nurse is reviewing medication prescriptions for a group of clients. The nurse should recognize that which of the following prescriptions can result in a medication administration error?

A) Penicillin G benzathine 1.2 million units IM daily
B) Furosemide 10.0 mg PO daily
C) Albuterol 2.5 mg 2 inhalations every 6 hrs as needed for shortness of breath
D) Insulin glargine 15 units subcutaneously daily at bedtime

Answer 1

The prescription for Furosemide 10.0 mg PO daily may lead to a medication administration error due to the unnecessary decimal and trailing zero, which could cause a tenfold overdose if interpreted as 100 mg. Other listed prescriptions are correctly written and represent typical medical orders for their respective medications.

Step-by-step explanation:

The nurse should recognize that the prescription for Furosemide 10.0 mg PO daily can result in a medication administration error. The potential error in this prescription is that it includes an unnecessary decimal point and trailing zero (10.0 mg), which could lead to a tenfold dosing error if misread as 100 mg. It should simply be written as 10 mg without a decimal to minimize the risk of dosage errors. The other prescriptions listed do not have apparent errors and are commonly administered medications with typical dosages and routes:

• Penicillin G benzathine 1.2 million units IM daily is a standard dosage and route for this type of antibiotic.
• Albuterol 2.5 mg 2 inhalations every 6 hrs as needed for shortness of breath is a typical rescue medication dosage for asthma or COPD.
• Insulin glargine 15 units subcutaneously daily at bedtime is a common dosage for managing blood glucose levels in diabetes.